The Hunt of a Notorious Ghost-Kid
by The Element of Air
Summary: It's been a year since Danny's accident and as if keeping it from his parents hasn't been hard enough, his parents have recently been invited on a "vacation" where they have to research and capture the ghost-kid. Will Danny be able to keep his secret hidden from them? Who sent the Fenton's on this "vacation?" How do they know Danny Fenton and Phantom are the same? Read to find out!
1. An Unforeseen, Planned Trip

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Danny Phantom; I also don't own a sloth, but thanks for rubbing that in my face, too.**

* * *

"I don't know what you're talking about," Danny lied, shifting uncomfortably at the table.

It had almost been a year since the accident, and Danny still hadn't gotten the nerve to tell them about his other half. Sure he almost did back when he was 14 and Vlad had almost destroyed the world, but when the time came, he said "Thanks for your help," and flew off.

Seated across from him, Maddie Fenton urged her son, "Please, Danny, tell me.". She had noted a change in his behavior when he was fourteen, and figured it was being a teenager, but now she wasn't so sure. Two years is an awfully long time to act so secretive and stand-offish.

Ugh, Danny sighed. _Why did Jazz have to be at school already? It was only 7:15! If she were here, surely she'd help him out by saying something psychological._

"Danny... it's only me," his mother had tears in her eyes, and he hated himself for putting her through this, but the fact of the matter was, he could not tell her his deepest secret - ever.

Danny downed the rest of his orange juice, took a bite of toast, grabbed his backpack, and headed for the door. "Listen, Mom, I really got to get to school, but we can finish this conversation lat-" Danny's voice was cut off by the slam of the door.

Once safely out of sight on the other side of the door, Danny dropped his backpack, and sighed, running his hands through his jet-black hair.

_That was too close._

He wanted to tell his mother and father - he had been close a few times - but something always stopped him. Normally, it's when he remembered his father saying he'd rip him apart "molecule by molecule."

He shook his head to empty his thoughts, and, grabbing his backpack, phased so he could get to school. Soaring through the air was quite peaceful. That is until Jack Fenton opened up his front door, and aimed a bazooka right at the pasty ghost kid. "Watch out Phantom! Jack Fenton is here; ready to rip you apart molecule by molecule!" Sighing, as his dad never could put up a good fight, he went intangible, and stayed that way until he was safely inside the boys bathroom of his school.

When he stepped into the hallway, he walked up to his locker, and tried to remember what his first period was. Racking his brain, he suddenly remembered he had Geometry first. He opened his locker, and reached for his Geometry textbook, but realized that he'd left it at home on his desk, when he was studying last night. He slapped his forehead, and groaned at his own stupidity.

"Hey man. Something wrong?" a familiar voice asked from his right.

"What?" he said looking up. "Oh hey Tucker. Yeah I just realized I forgot my math book at home... Do you think we'll need it today?"

"Yeah it's a sub. They always assign work in the book when there's a substitute," Tucker admitted, feeling sorry for Danny.

"Great," he sighed, again. "Maybe I can make it back to my house before the bell rings," Danny added hopefully.

"I don't know man, you've only got ten minutes..." Tucker looked at his PDA, and told him, doubtfully.

"Well, I've got to try, right." Danny said, clearly aggravated that he had to go back home. Tucker nodded, and said, encouragingly, "Hey! Sometimes subs take role late! You could slip in unnoticed!" Danny smiled, and ducked behind the cart of computers sitting outside the computer lab. All Tucker saw was a flash of light, and he knew that Danny was off.

Danny flew as fast as he could to get back to Fenton Works. He went intangible, and slipped inside his room. Searching around hurriedly, he scattered the papers on his desk around, looking for the book underneath any of them. "Where is it?" he asked, under his breath, in frustration. His hand flew to the right, and his desk lamp crashed onto the ground in a loud _clang!_

Looking at the desk lamp, he saw that the book had fallen onto the ground to the left of his desk, surprisingly right next to the lamp. Just as his fingers had scraped it, and he was about to pick it up, the door of his room bursted open, and none other than Maddie Fenton barged in, carrying the Fenton bat. Danny gasped, realizing with a sudden shock that he was currently Danny _Phantom_ breaking in to Danny _Fenton's_ room.

"You!" his mother gasped. "You better watch out, kid. I've been doing my research on you."

"Y-you have?" Danny asked, his voice cracking in fear.

"Not only that, but I'm about to get paid to do it! Hi-yah!" Danny didn't get a moment to dwell on the fact that his mother was going to get paid to hunt him down because he had to react so quickly to the bat being flung at his head. He hopped to the window, and saw Maddie running towards him. "Er - sorry about this," he apologized, and zapped the bat with ectoplas out of his finger. He jumped out of the window, and began the flight towards school, textbook in hand.

…

At lunch, Danny found Tucker and Sam quite easily. Even in his second year of high school, their lunch table only held three occupants.

"Hey, I heard you had to race back home this morning," Sam said, cheerfully as Danny walked up. "Ugh, don't remind me," he sighed. "As if that wasn't bad enough, my mom caught _Danny Phantom_ going through _Danny Fenton's_ stuff! This whole double-life thing is so difficult."

"But hey no ghosts on the way, right?" Tucker tried to cheer him up.

"No, only a bazooka and a bat. Which reminds me," he paused for a moment, reflecting on the events earlier that morning. "When my mom caught me, she said she's gonna start getting paid to hunt me... What do you think that means?" Sam and Tucker both shrugged. Danny shook his head, and changed the subject, suddenly tired of talking about his life's problems.

"So what's going on in-" Danny's ghost-sense interrupted him, and he instinctively look out of the window. Standing - or rather floating - outside was a ghost, one Danny had never seen before, smiling menacingly at him. He was green with red eyes - like all ghosts (besides Danny) looked - but this one had on a white lab coat, and his white hair was frizzy and poofy. He wore lab goggles, and reminded Danny of a younger Technus.

Danny gasped, and stood up to look around the lunchroom for a place to go ghost, but he couldn't find anything. He was about to make a run for the hallway, but when he looked back at his friends, they had already flipped the table over on its side. Smiling his appreciation, he phased safely behind it, and shot up into the air towards the new ghost.

"Okay, doctor, time to stick a needle through your-" Danny was cut off by his own understanding: the ghost was no longer there. He scratched his head, and looked around, but couldn't see him anywhere. He shrugged, and went inside his locker to phase before getting to his last two classes.

…

"What happened to that ghost at lunch?" Sam asked Danny at the end of the day when she met him by his locker. "I don't know," Danny admitted. "When I got outside, he'd disappeared. I couldn't see where he'd gone, so I came back in. Weird, huh?" Sam nodded, but wasn't going to let it drop that easily. "I can get some information on him if you want."

"Sam," Danny sighed. "I don't even know his name."

"Never underestimate the power of a techno geek," Sam's wide smile was contagious, and Danny couldn't help but return it.

"I'll call you later tonight if I find anything," Sam promised.

"You mean if Tucker finds something," Danny winked.

"I'm not seeing a difference," Sam joked.

Danny took off toward the doors, and prepared for his walk home.

…

"I don't understand," Danny said, clearly confused. When he'd gotten home, his mother and father sat him and Jazz down at the table, and told them they were going on a ghost-hunting vacation.

"I got the call today! They told me we'd get to go to a private camp just outside of Lake Eerie for a month just an hour and a half away! All expense are paid for; I just have to be working during the vacation," Maddie told her children.

"That's right!" Jack added. "Your mother and I will be hunting down that good-for-nothing ghost kid while you two can play around the camp!"

Jazz and Danny gasped at the same time. "W-why?" Jazz stuttered.

"They told us they had a some evidence that the ghost kid's hideout was somewhere near there, and that he comes to Amity Park when he wants to stir up trouble. We're supposed to be researching him. They told us that they were 100% sure he'd show up!"

"Er, who's 'they'?" Danny asked, and gulped in fear of this vacation. "You know I'm not sure they said... some fellow ghost hunter I'm sure!" Maddie answered.

Great, Danny sighed.

"Well we leave tomorrow at noon, so you two go pack!" Jack instructed.

"Dad! Jazz objected. Danny and I have school! Junior year is a very crucial year with college acceptance, and I have to be there!" Jazz, who dreams of the future belong to Yale, was always staying on top of her studies - and Danny's for that matter.

"It's okay, Sweetie, we already called your school, and they sent us your assignments for the next month."

Jazz and Danny both groaned. It was clear they were not going to make it out of this one.

…

That night, Danny grabbed the land line and dialed Sam's number. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey it's me. Listen, er-"

"I was just about to call you! Tucker and I found something. The ghost from today was a scientist when he was alive. And a mad one at that. He had this theory-"

"That's great Sam, but it's gonna have to wait," Danny interrupted.

Confused, Sam asked, "How come?"

"My parents are dragging me on a camping trip in hunt for Danny _Phantom_! Some one called and said there is a '100% chance the ghost-kid will show up.' Can you believe that? How would they even know I'd be there?"

Sam slapped her forehead. "They know because they know your identity! Of course the ghost kid will be there if he's the Fenton's son!"

Danny eyes shot wide open, even in his tired state, at her realization. Why hadn't he noticed that?

"Be careful Danny. It could be a trap," Sam warned.

Danny promised he would, said his farewell, and hung up.

He dialed Tucker's number next. For the most part, the conversation was the same; as a matter of fact, the only difference was Tucker didn't notice what Sam had about the knowledge of his identity. Danny was going to tell him, but figured Tucker would just find out tomorrow when he talked to Sam.

Looking at his open closet, Danny threw in most of his clothes and underwear into a duffel bag, zipped it up, and plopped back onto his bed.

This vacation was going to be fine. He just could never go ghost - no exceptions. The last thing he needed was his own two parents strapping him down and experimenting on him 'molecule by molecule.'

He tried to think about the ghost from earlier, and even succeeded for a while, but eventually he gave up, exhausted, and fell sound asleep against his soft pillow and warm sheets.

* * *

**So that was Chapter 1! Make sure to comment whether you think I should continue, and if you liked it! I always feel more motivated about updating when I get a bunch of positive feedback!**


	2. Camp Fenton

"Go, go, go!" Jack Fenton's voice boomed throughout the house. Danny and Jazz were both carrying their suitcases, and practically sprinting out of the house. They threw their bags in the back of the Fenton RV, and hopped in themselves.

Maddie Fenton was already in the passenger seat of the RV. She turned around to meet her kids, and smiled, cheerily.

"Are you two excited?" she asked. Danny and Jazz both muttered something that sounded like a yes, but in reality were terrified.

"Good," their mother said, not realizing her children's discomfort with the whole thing. "Now, I need you two to put these on," she said, holding two Specter Deflectors in both her hands. Danny and Jazz both gasped.

Maddie walked up to her daughter first, and buckled hers with the key. She reached to do Danny's but he knew what would happen if she did. "Wait, mom, I, er..." he tried to argue.

Danny glanced over to Jazz, who was biting her fingernails and thinking of a quick solution.

"Mom, I've got a better idea!" she bursted out. Clearly this solution had just come to her. Maddie stopped in her tracks and faced her daughter, her intrigued face giving Jazz the okay to continue. "When we see that, er, malicious ghost kid, he'll know that we have the Specter Deflectors on, and that he can't come near us. You'll never get close to him! What if we wore them underneath our clothes. That way he has no idea until he's already been shocked." Jazz hoped her mother would fall for it, but was unsure if she had thoroughly convinced her.

Maddie's face lit up in a smile. "And that is how a Fenton thinks!" Danny's relieved eyes let Jazz know how thankful he was. He'd already been shocked once when he touched his mother wearing one. He'd never had it on him when his ghost powers were activated.

Maddie quickly unhooked Jazz's, and was about to reattach it underneath her shirt, but Jazz stood up. "Er, I'll do it! And Danny's, too. Dad might need help, and we, er, have to leave. Here," she offered, extending her hand so Maddie could give both belts to her. Maddie smiled, and appeared very proud. "You are so responsible."

Maddie handed the two belts to her daughter, and stepped out of the RV to help her oof of a husband. Once she was out the RV, Jasmine threw both belts in a box, and stored the box in the back of the RV.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked her. Jasmine looked confused. "Do you want to get shocked?"

Danny sighed. "I don't mean with mine; I meant yours. _You_ need it!"

"I do not. The only ghost-threat here is, well, you, and you're not gonna hurt me," Jazz fought.

"_I_ won't, but I have this feeling that the someone - or rather something - that sent us here knows who I am, and could be dangerous," Danny said, pondering what Sam had said last night.

Jasmine thought about what her brother had said, but clearly was not done with the conversation. Still, she reached for her own Specter Deflector, clasping it beneath her black shirt. "I'll be safe with this, but will you? Danny - you cannot, under any circumstance - go ghost while we're here. You know that, right?" she asked her brother, making sure to keep her distance so she wouldn't shock him.

"Well, yea Jazz. Mom and Dad are hunting me down, but if there's a ghost, and you guys are in danger-"

"You'll let Mom and Dad handle it!" Jazz interrupted.

Danny sighed, but agreed to let his somewhat-competent parents hunt the ghosts for this month. Jazz nodded her approval of his agreement, and the conversation ended there as their two parents hopped into the front of the RV, and they were off to the woods.

…

"Okay, kids, we're here!" Maddie's high voice screamed. Danny jolted awake, and Jazz lazily got up, and muttered to Danny, as she walked by, "That was _not_ an hour and a half."

Danny wasn't sure how long the trip really was since he'd fallen asleep thirty minutes in, but if his sister was right, it was much longer than they had said.

Danny followed his older sister out of the van, and they both got their bags from the enormous trunk of the RV.

When they turned to see which cabin they would be accommodating, Maddie, as if reading their minds, turned to them and said, "Okay, kids. You two will be in that cabin, and your father and I will be in the one two the left." Danny and Jazz turned towards their cabin, and groaned just at the sight of it.

It was made from wooden logs, and had one small window to the left of the door. As they got closer, the smell of mold hit their noses like a punch to the face. They coughed and gasped for air, but had no choice but to continue towards the shack. They stopped right at the sickly-green slimed front door.

"Ladies first?" Danny offered weakly.

"Ghost kid first?" Jasmine offered back. Danny couldn't argue with that one. If something was in there, at least he could defend himself. He couldn't say the same for Jazz - even with the Specter Deflector.

Danny hesitantly stepped forwards, and turned the handle on the door slightly to the right. WIthout pushing it, the door flung open, and Danny gulped one last breath of fresh air before entering.

He carefully extended his left leg over the threshold. The floorboard creaked beneath his foot, but he still walked through it all the way. He ignited a small light of ectoplasm in his hand until he could find the light switch in the pitch black. "Danny!" Jasmine shrieked. "I told you not to-"

"Look I just need to be able to see where the lightswitch is, okay?" Danny interrupted, aggravated at his sister's overprotectiveness.

"There," Danny said to himself, and crossed the dark room to put the lights on.

Jazz gasped as at least a dozen roaches, ten moths, twenty termites, and a few spiders scurried around, looking for a hiding place.

Danny looked around the small cabin. They were standing in the kitchen. He could see the bedroom to the right, and the bathroom just beyond that. "Well... this is... nice," Danny tried being positive.

"I won't be spending a lot of time in here," Jazz muttered.

"Right back at you, sis," Danny agreed, in the same mumbling tone.

…

After putting their things down inside the bedroom, Danny and Jazz headed to meet their parents inside their cabin.

From the outside, the cabin less than thirty feet away looked just as danky and disgusting, but as soon as their feet crossed through the threshold, the entire room lit up.

It wasn't like their kitchen. This was a high-tech lab that was made entirely of chrome. A dozen or so huge guns shot gooey green ectoplasm at the siblings, who sighed, but were almost expecting it. They also guessed that their two crazy parents would walk through the door at any moment, and realize their "safety" trap had backfired on their two children... again.

"Eat ectoplasm you ghost fiend!" Jack Fenton shouted, right on cue. Maddie and Jack Fenton kicked their door open, with the masks of their jumpsuits on, both holding big bazookas, aimed at the kids.

Once they realized the green blobs were their two children, Maddie smiled, "Oh kids. You really need to learn not to sneak up on us like that! You two go get cleaned off, then we'll show you around the lab."

Danny and Jazz both slumped off in aggravation, but once safely inside their own cabin, Danny went intangible, and all the ectoplasm dripped to the floor. The ectoplasm pile oozed beneath the floorboards, as it always did when it had nothing to bind to.

"Danny!" Jazz objected. "I told you to be careful, and NO GOING GHOST!"

Danny chuckled, "Fine. Have fun cleaning off." He held up his right hand, which suddenly disappeared up to his elbow, as if to let Jazz decide whether she wanted to take a roach-infested shower or go intangible. Her silence was all the answer Danny needed, and he quickly cleaned her off, too.

…

Back in their parents' cabin, Maddie started their "tour" inside the first chrome room, where dozens of weapons were all aimed at the door. "Now," she instructed. "If you two ever want to come in without getting ectoplasm-ed, simply enter, and say, "I am a Fenton." The weapons will disable, and you can proceed throughout the rest of the cabin."

Maddie led her kids to the left doorway, where everything was, yet again, metal. The polished lab tables sparkled against the shiny walls. As Danny was inspecting every corner, he noticed something very familiar.

"What is the ghost portal doing here?" he asked. Maddie faced her questioned son. "Isn't it great?" she said excitedly. "It was here when we came in. As if whoever invited us knew it would make us feel more at home! Sweet, isn't it?"

"Yeah... sweet..." Danny muttered under his breath, but in reality he thought this whole situation screamed ghostly... if only his parents did, too. It was obvious that the ghost who planned this whole thing was obviously going to check in on the Fentons' work through the portal.

Going to the last chrome-finished room, Maddie introduced her children to a large metal table with unbuckled straps hanging from it, and lasers of all sizes aimed towards it. "And this," Maddie started. "Is my favorite. It's where we'll get to experiment on the ghost kid once we capture him."

Danny gulped, and tried to smile and act interested, but he was immensely scared of what was going to happen to him.

…

Later that night, after dinner, Jazz and Danny stared at the two twin cots in their bedroom.

"Do you think they're clean?" Jazz asked, skeptical to get in.

Danny looked at the two beds, and moaned, "Not a chance ." He pondered for a second, before adding. "Jazz, remember that ectoplasm-thing earlier today? What if I made the bed intangible, and all the dirt would slide off on the floor?"

Jazz frowned. "No ghost powers!" She looked at the bed, as if to confirm her decision, but was so thoroughly disgusted, that she added, "Except in this one scenario. After that, no more."

Danny smiled, and used both hands to make the cots intangible. Luckily, it worked. Jazz smiled, too, relieved that they didn't have those filthy cots anymore.

"Admit it," Danny's smile widened. "You like having a brother with ghost powers."

Jazz's voice was stern, but her face was soft and sweet. "Go to sleep, Little Brother."

And for a change, Danny actually listened to his sister, and fell into a somewhat-peaceful sleep.

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**Thanks everyone for the positive reviews! Chapter 3 is already in the making, and should be uploaded shortly!**


	3. Ectoplasmic DNA

Danny way startled awake by Jasmine's shrieking scream. He jumped out of the cot, and looked around. His sister came running from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. "Danny!" She screamed, and ran towards him. "In the shower! In the shower!"

Danny hesitantly walked towards the bathroom, and peaked into the shower. Right next to the drain was the biggest, blackest roach Danny had ever seen. He inhaled sharply, not knowing what to do. He looked back towards his sister, but she wasn't looking at him. He pointed his finger to the bug, and it was instantly coated with a thick layer of ectoplasm. Danny ran the water over it to suck it down the drain, and walked back over to Jazz. "It's dead," he announced. Jasmine smiled her appreciation, and ducked back into the bathroom to continue her hygiene-routine. "Wait!" Danny called to her, and his sister stopped in her tracks. "What about the Specter Deflector?" he asked, curious how she got it off without the key. "I didn't lock it when I put it on, so it's over in my bag." Jazz was about to close the bathroom door but the look on her little brother's face stopped her. "Don't worry," she smiled. "I'll put it back on after I get out." She gently closed the door, and all Danny heard was the shower running, and he knew this conversation was over.

After what seemed to Danny like forever, Jazz came out of the bathroom. "It's about time," Danny muttered as he walked by her to take his own shower. Jazz hardly noticed his impatience, and walked over to her bag to put on her jeans and v-neck.

Once Danny was showered and dressed, he and his sister, walked from their cabin, and met their parents in between the two cabins.

"What's today's agenda?" Jazz asked.

Maddie and Jack looked at each other with wide smiles before answering. "Well today _we_ are beginning the Phantom case!" They were both very excited, which only irked Danny further. "And us?" He asked, his voice shaking.

Maddie thought for a moment. "You two can start on all that make-up work for school," she said, simply.

Danny groaned at the thought of doing his math homework without a calculator while Jazz smiled now that she could get all of it done as out of the way.

…

Once they were back inside their shabby cabin, Jazz turned to her ghostly brother.

"So Danny," she began. "Back at home you said something about the guy who invited us here being dangerous. Care to elaborate?" Danny took a breath. "It's not like I know much about it; in fact, it's only a theory. I was talking to Sam the other night, and she told me that whoever invited us here must know that _Danny Fenton_ and _Danny Phantom_ are the same because they knew that _Danny Phantom_ would show up if _Danny Fenton's_ parents were here. She thought that this whole vacation was a trap, and told me to be careful. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the more I go over everything, the more real it all seems."

Jasmine, who understood what Danny was saying perfectly, asked, "So this guy... what do you think he wants?"

Danny shrugged. "My best guess would be he wants be captured, but doesn't want to do the dirty work, so he's getting Mom and Dad to do it." Jazz nodded, and thought that that was a pretty good theory. "Okay, so one more question," she said. "What happens if Mom and Dad can't capture you? What will become of this ghost-guy?" Danny's silence proved his ignorance on the question, so Jazz dropped it. Her poor brother already had way too much going on in his life - especially for a fifteen year old kid. Most kids his age were worried about fighting acne. Her brother was busy fighting ghosts. As responsible at it seemed, Jazz knew that it took a lot out of him.

Jazz was about to get her homework out of her bag, but there was a big explosion-sound that came from outside.

Danny as Jazz both showed nervous expressions before running out their cabin to see what their parents had done to cause such a ruckus. When they couldn't find them outside, they went to their cabin, to see if something happened in the lab. Once Jazz opened the door, she shouted "I am a Fenton," to which the machine responded, "Ectoplasmic energy detected," right before firing a blob of goop at Danny. He had no time to react, and before he knew it, he was covered in lime green ectoplasm.

Danny was annoyed that he had, yet again, been drenched with ectoplasm, and this time he wasn't playing games. He went intangible, and smiled as all the goo slipped away to the floor.

When Jazz could see him again, her face very readable; she had already told Danny countless times to _not_ use his powers. Danny shrugged off Jazz's menacing glare, and led the way to find out where the explosion had come from.

"Mom? Dad?" he called out into the dark.

Maddie and Jack fenton both shot their heads up. "What is it son?" his father asked.

"We, er, heard an explosion," Jazz answered. "Are you guys okay?"

Maddie smiled at her daughter. "We're more than okay, Sweetie. We're doing superb!"

Danny was scared of the answer, but asked anyway, "What are you guys so happy about?"

Jack's face lit up at the thought of answering. "We just finished the new Fenton DNA Tracker." Neither Jazz nor Dany spoke, so Jack continued. "Just one drop of that nasty vernon, Danny Phantom's, ectoplasm, and we'll be able to track him a mile away!"

"How are you planning on getting his DNA?" Jazz asked, scared what her parents might do to her brother. Maddie smiled. "If his hideout is here, we'll just wait for him to show up!" Jazz eyed Danny again, clearly conveying that she'd been right about the danger of using his ghost powers. "Then, by shooting him with one of our weapons, his ectoplasm will rub off!"

"What exactly does the machine tell you?" Danny wondered aloud. Jack smiled. "I'm glad you asked!" He pricked his son's finger, and dripped the blood onto the touchpad of the new machine. After five seconds of thinking, Danny's face popped up. The equipment was clearly able to tell who Danny's parents were... if it could do that with blood, Danny was sure it could do the same to ectoplasm. "It knows everything about everyone in its memory-drive. Now, if we ever need to know where you are, we can find you with this!" Jack exclaimed. Danny gulped. If his parents ever got any of his ectoplasm, they would instantly know that their arch nemesis and their only son were the same person. Then who knows what they would do.

…

"Danny! You have to listen to me," Jazz reasoned with her stubborn brother.

"I am listening Jazz, but I will not let you guys get hurt from a ghost. There's no way I'm scared of Mom and Dad. They can't do any real harm... I think," Danny argued.

"Danny, you don't know what Mom and Dad are capable of, and if they get you... who knows what could happen to you. I'd _like_ to think they would accept you if they found out who you were, but I can't promise that for certain. Plus, you'd never tell them! Please, just... be careful. I only have one brother, Danny." Jazz smiled sadly at her younger brother. If only her idiotic parents could understand how their ghost-hunting was really affecting their son.

"Jazz... I _want_ to be careful - I do! But its like I said: I'd rather get captured by my own parents than have Technus or Plasmius or some other ghost do something unspeakably evil. Mom and Dad have never been _that_ great of ghost hunters. I mean look at me - they've literally been harboring a ghost for almost a full year!" Danny insisted. He tried to act tough and confident, but he was really scared of what type of trouble he could be in if his parents captured him.

Instead of firing back an argument, Jazz embraced Danny tightly and rested her chin on her brother's shoulder. "Promise me that if you get captured, you'll tell Mom and Dad the truth."

Danny pulled away, and set Jasmine at arm's length. His oceanic blue eyes looking through her icy blue ones, he said, in a serious, glum tone. "I can't."

Jazz's eyes watered, and, against her will, she could feel the pang of tears approaching. She looked down, upset that her brother had to be so stubborn. "If you don't... who knows what they'll do." Her voice was soft, like a mouse whispering. She was scared that if she talked too loud, Danny would know the affect his decision was having on her.

What she didn't know what Danny already knew. He already knew the pain he'd put his mother, father, and sister through; his friends, Sam and Tucker. Sometimes Danny wondered why he'd kept his ghost powers a secret for so long.

Then he remembered his parents' hatred toward any form of ghost. If they found out their son - their own flesh and blood - was a ghost... what would even go through their minds? How could they even cope with that? Danny shuddered at the thought of putting his family through any more pain. _That,_ he reminded himself,_ is why I keep it a secret_.

"Danny," Jazz interrupted his thoughts, and placed a hand on his tense shoulder. "_I_ accepted you. Heck! I've been keeping it from Mom and Dad for nine months. What makes you think Mom and Dad would act any differently?"

Danny stared right at his sister's sad face, and said, matter of factly, _"You_ don't hunt ghosts for living."

Danny sadly walked out of their cabin, and Jazz stayed behind, dwelling on her brother's trusting issues.

…

Behind all the trees inside the dark woods, he stood. He held binoculars to his eyes to get a better look a the creature approaching. When the magnifiers finally focused on the walking object, he smiled, in spite of himself.

"Yes, Ghost Kid, that's it go off by yourself into the woods," he chuckled. Jetting off, he followed closely behind the human-formed Ghost Child.


	4. Disobedience

What did Jazz know? His parents would never be able to cope with Danny's other side. He was shocked that Jazz could. Even if his parents did surprise him with acceptance, they would never let him go out as Danny Phantom again. They'd insist that it was too dangerous, and that he wasn't capable. No doubt they would try to keep all the ghosts out of Amity Park themselves, and within a month it would become the new ghost zone! As smart as she was, Jazz could sometimes not think things through.

A chilling sensation occurred deep in Danny's voice box. It traveled up his throat, and out of his mouth. Now Danny could see the icy blue air, emerging past his lips. HIs ghost sense. "Great," Danny moaned to himself. Just what he needed: a ghost coming when he was alone in the woods with no one to hear him scream. As far as Danny could tell, he only had one option. Furrowing his eyebrows, and readying himself, he shouted, "I'm going ghost!"

Immediately a beam of energy formed around his abdomen. After hovering there for a moment, it extended up and down his body at the same time. The energy gave Danny so much power; it felt incredible every time he phased. The light stretch up his chest, through his neck, beyond his blue eyes, and ended at the tip peak of his hair. The lower beam extended to his knees, then his ankles, and all the way to the mossy ground.

Danny knew he was completely transformed when the bursting energy ceased, and he opened his green eyes, and saw his wispy white hair waving in his face. He looked up at the sky, where Danny's ghostly instinct was leading him. Kicking off the ground, he torpedoed over the trees, and looked around. Before he had time to react, he was pushed to the ground on his stomach by a source of ectoplasm that he couldn't find.

He flipped over just in time to see a hunk of metal hurtling towards him. He went in tangible, and quickly got out of the way.

Skulker. He should have known the world-renowned ghost hunter would follow him here. He lay crumpled on the ground, where he'd just crashed.

"What are you doing here, Skulker?" Danny asked, walking towards him. Skulker got up, completely undamaged, and smiled, "Hunting you, of course." He flew towards Danny, a menacing grin on his face, but Danny way quicker. He shot ectoplasm from his hand right at the armored ghost, shooting him back by at least 10 feet. "Don't you get it, you hunk of metal, I'm on 'vacation,' shouldn't that mean I get a break from ghost hunting, too?" He asked, teasingly. Skulker grunted and shot a missile from his fist aiming right towards Danny. It blew up right in his face, sending him flying backwards, and hitting his back against a tree. "Well that's a new one," Danny muttered to himself as he got up.

He stepped back into his ready stance, and searched for Skulker. He saw him flying fast towards him, a fist ready for punching. Reacting fast, Danny froze Skulker's left wing. He immediately stopped flying and crashed to the ground. Danny stepped over Skulker's body, and smiled. "Sorry to rain on your parade, but it seems you've come down with quite a cold." He reached into his jumpsuit, to find the thermos, but when he aimed it at Skulker, he was gone. Vanished. Probably went intangible and walked away. Still, all those metal boots had to make a lot of noise and footprints, so Danny decided to follow his instinct, and see if he could find the ghost hunter. If it was one thing Danny had learned from fighting Skulker, it was their was only one way to beat him: suck him up and trap him in the Fenton Thermos when he's weakened or down. If Danny didn't get him now, he may be trying the entire month.

He kicked off the ground again, and decided to get a bird's point of view, and search for him from above. Danny let his ghost-instinct guide him, and he felt like he was getting close a couple times, but everytime he could almost smell the metal of Skulker, he went away again; and after a good half hour, Danny gave up, and headed back to camp.

He stayed above the trees incase Skulker decided to show. That ice would take a good day or two to melt, so until then, Danny would hopefully not be seeing any of him. Still... why did he let him get away? He'd hardly ever done that before. It must've been that his mind was elsewhere. Maybe this whole situation with his parents and Jazz just messed with his mind a little.

It didn't really matter because the fact was Skulker got away, and now his family was in danger. Who knows where he'd strike next?

Suddenly, Danny felt a slap on his side, and heard a muttering of voices. As he tuned in, he heard two distinct, very familiar voices.

"Jack, you stubborn man, give it to me."

"No! It's mine."

They were fighting over the Jack o'Nine Tails whip. That was what had slapped Danny, who suddenly felt exhausted. He drooped down from over the trees all the way down to the ground, and sat there, trying to keep his eyes open. _What was happening to him?_ He rubbed his side where the whip had hit him, and it felt moist. When he pulled it away, his hand was glowing green with his own ectoplasm.

This only made Danny's faintness worsen. He knew that if he stayed as Danny Phantom, his deep wound would heal by morning, but he wouldn't be able to go back to the cabin as the one thing his parents were hunting. If he changed back into Danny Fenton, his wound could take a whole week to really seal, and he'd be weakened for that duration of time. Checking his side again, he now wasn't sure if he'd make it long enough to decide. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been hurt this badly, and was starting to black out. If he was going to go back to camp, he'd have to go back now. Then an idea came to him.

Jazz.

Jazz, when she was done scolding him, would help him. All he had to do was transform into Danny Fenton get inside the cabin, and switch back to Danny Phantom, so he could heal. He weakly stood up, and phased, the blinding energy consuming him again. He suddenly felt fine. Every hair on his body stood up, and he was more alert than ever. However, just as quickly as it had come, it had gone, and he was back to his poor, bleeding self.

Danny moped back to camp, every step agonizing him further. His white t-shirt was getting soaked in red, and he tried to cover it up with his hand, but it didn't work. He had only made the smudge worse. One good thing about Danny Phantom's black jumpsuit was nothing could stain it.

Danny looked to his left where his mother and father were searching for him, just not the him he currently looked like. Now his mother had the Fenton Ghost Fisher, and they were both looking at the sky, desperately wondering which way he'd flown off to. Danny had never been so thankful in his life for their stupidity. He could now safely slip into his cabin, and wrap his wound. Just as he reached right outside his cabin, he felt a surge of pain overcome him. It hurt to even open his eyes, but he knew that he had to open the door. Jazz would surely be in there, and if he could just make it inside, she could help get him up. He reached to turn the knob, and finally succeeded. When the door swung open, he fell across the threshold.

…

"Danny?" Jazz called out, setting her book down and getting up. "Is that you?" She stopped in her tracks. Her brother's limp body laid on the floor by the door. She quickly ran to his side. "Danny!" she shouted. "Danny can you hear me?" She made him roll his head over, and look her in the eyes. All he did was bob his head down ever so slightly to indicate a nod, and Jazz was relieved. At least he was alive. "Okay, Danny, I'm gonna help you, but you have to try with me, okay?" Jazz instructed. Danny nodded again, and Jazz set her hands on her little brother, under his armpits. She'd never been so thankful for his scrawny figure before. "Ready, Danny?" He grunted his affirmative, and she pulled and dragged him to the corner. She sat his weak body against the wall, and shut the door.

Jazz ran to the bathroom to get a towel soaked with warm water. When she came back, she made Danny look her right in the eyes. "Danny, I need you to answer me. Do you heal quicker as a ghost?" Danny nodded slightly, so she ordered, "Phase. Now." Had Danny not been so utterly exhausted and hurt, he would've joked and said how this whole time she'd been saying _not_ to go ghost, but he was too tired. Instead, he reserved his energy to actually transform. The belt of energetic light appeared at his waist, and consumed his entire body. The energy he received - though short-lived - was amazing.

When he was a Phantom, Jasmine made Danny move his hands away from his side, so she could get a better look. He reluctantly agreed, and Jasmine had to clasp her hand over her mouth, so Danny couldn't hear her gasp. It didn't work. Danny still heard it. He knew it was bad, but if Jazz thought it was bad, it was worse than he'd thought. She began rubbing it gently with the cloth to clean it, and Danny winced at every stroke. Then she wrapped a bed sheet multiple times around his waist to stop the ecto-flow. She tied a knot, and pulled at Danny's feet to get him to lay down. He needed to be all one-level, and use no muscles.

Danny's effulgent green eyes showed a blast of appreciation right before they closed, and he drifted off to sleep. Jazz kissed his forehead, and wished him good night, even though it was 3 in the afternoon.

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**Thanks everyone for the amazing reviews! It really gets my creative gears turning ;)I love going through and reading every single one. They always make me smile :D**

**Have a wonderful day, and don't stop reviewing! 8)**


	5. A New Day

When Danny's lime eyes opened, he looked around. It was definitely morning, but what time in the morning he had no clue. He was laying in the hallway, and wrapped in an ectoplasm-soaked bed sheet. Then it all started coming back to him. Skulker. The fight. The flee. The whip. The fall. Everything. His own parents had hurt him a way no ghost had ever. He could hardly walk.

He looked back into his bedroom, and saw Jazz sitting against the wall, reading her favorite book: _Wuthering Heights._ It was _never_ a good sign when Jazz read _Wuthering Heights._ She only did it when she was worried, and Danny immediately knew it was him she was worried about.

Jazz had only looked up for a moment, when her eyes nearly broke through their sockets. "Danny," she breathed. "You're awake!" He nodded, and tried to sit up. He was still pretty weak, but thankfully his ectoplasm heals a lot faster than his blood. "How do you feel?" she smiled. Danny smiled back. "Okay, I think." "Good," she said kindly.

Then her smile disappeared. "What on Earth happened! And I want to know the truth." Her face turned into something horribly vicious that he did not want to anger more. As he told her about the fight with Skulker and how he'd gotten away, and then he went after him, when Mom and Dad shot him with a whip, her face stayed the same because all she heard was, "I went ghost, and almost died."

When Danny finally finished, he argued to Jazz, "Look, I wasn't gonna put my family in danger. Skulker is dangerous and will stop at nothing, so I'm sorry if I didn't want him to come after you guys to get to me!" He was furious that Jazz didn't see how serious his sighting was. There was no doubt in Danny's mind that he came through the portal that was less than thirty feet away, and if he got out, there are probably a bunch more ghosts where that came from.

"I told you to let Mom and Dad handle it!" Jazz said, furiously.

Danny, who felt bad for putting his sister through all this craziness, was angry she didn't understand what he was saying. "If I didn't go ghost he would've killed me - or worse capture then skin me and hang my pelt over his fireplace" Damny added, remembering what he told him after Sam offended him. "Which would you have preferred?" Danny asked, glumly, hoping she'd understand now.

Jazz's eyes continued to look furious, but her face softened a tad. "Well now Mom and Dad have your ectoplasm," she said. Danny felt his heart stop beating. "What? For how long! Do they already know?" He was going crazy.

Jazz shrugged, and her indifference irked Danny endlessly. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "But they haven't said anything, so I'd say it's okay. I've been trying to stall them, and keep them away from the lab, but I'm not sure how effective that was…"

"Jack Fenton!" Their mother interrupted Jazz. Danny quickly phased, and stood to meet Jazz's level. They both left their cabin to see what their idiotic father had done this time.

They entered the lab, and were once again welcomed by the rays and guns pointing at the door. This time, they didn't stop long enough to get sprayed. They ran all the way to the lab with the ghost zone, and saw their furious mother pointing her finger at their father.

"Maddie, I, er…" he began.

"What's going on?" Jazz asked. Maddie turned around, and ferociously shouted. "Your father lost the DNA!"

Playing dumb, Danny asked, "Who's DNA?" Maddie screamed at her son. "The ghost's! We got his ectoplasm yesterday, and I was going to put it into the machine today, but now it's gone! Who knows when we'll see him again!"

Jazz muttered, too soft for her parents to hear, but loud enough that Danny heard her, "Hopefully never." He knew what Jazz was implying, and although he agrees, there was still the matter of-

Another puff of blue air escaped his mouth. "Not again," he moaned to himself.

"I, er, have to use the bathroom," Danny announced to the room, and quickly ran to find the nearest one. Jazz knew what those obnoxious exits were used for. Danny was about to go ghost.

"Oh no you don't," she muttered, and walked after him.

Once safely inside the locked bathroom, Danny yelled, "Going ghost!" and instantly a beam of energy surrounded his waist. Once he was fully transformed, he went intangible, and went through the roof of the danky cabin.

He reappeared on the on top of the cabin, and searched around. "Where are you?" he whispered to himself. He followed his ghostly instinct, and went into Jazz and his cabin. Right as he opened his eyes, he noticed a familiar face rummaging through his bag.

"Where is this blasted-" Technus sighed.

"You won't find anything useful in there. This vacation is 'unplugged,'" he said, and hurdled an ectoplasm filled punch right smack into the scientist's face. Technus went flying through the wall, and just as Danny was about to follow him, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, and saw Jazz's harsh glare. "Danny-" she began.

"I'm sorry, Jazz," he said, and hung his head. He shooted off out of the cabin, but couldn't find Technus anywhere. Not like it really mattered. There was no harm he could possibly do in a techno-free zone.

He phased again - the energy making him feel as light as air - and returned to the cabin to find Jazz sulking in the bedroom. "Jazz," Danny began, and stepped forward so he could get a better look at her. When she heard his voice, she looked up, and quickly stared back down at the ground.

"Jazz, I-" he tried to begin, but Jasmine cut him off.

"Danny. I know you want to protect us, but it's not gonna do you much good if you get hurt doing it. I just want you to be careful, but despite my attempts you just... won't listen," she sighed. This was clearly getting to her.

"Jazz I'd rather have Mom and Dad capture me then these really evil ghost hurt any of you guys. Why can't you understand that?"

"Because I don't trust you, Danny," Jazz finally admitted. Danny was confused, but never got the chance to ask a question because Jazz continued. "If Mom and Dad get you, you are not going to tell them, and you know it. If you were going to, they'd know by now! They're just as dangerous as those evil ghosts you're fighting."

"Then I'll just keep fighting them," Danny offered, weakly.

"Danny, Mom and Dad are more powerful than you think they are. You could hardly move last night!" Jazz reminded him. "I know," Danny sighed. Of course he knew she was right; she always was.

"Look, Jazz, the truth is I don't really trust myself either. I want to think that I'd tell them in a life or death situation, but I'm just... not sure," he admitted to, not only her, but also himself.

"What are you so scared of?" Jazz asked, clearly worried of her brother's health. Danny shook his head, and his silence let Jazz know she was pushing a line, so she dropped it.

"Get some sleep, Little Brother," she smiled and kissed his forehead. Danny began to protest, and say that, "It's noon," but soon realized just how tired he was. Probably a side effect from the weapon he was shot with yesterday.

He hopped into his cot, and his heart soothed to a slow, rhythmic beating. He was safely asleep.


	6. An Icy Situation

**Sorry i took so long to update :( I really tried this week, but we had two birthdays in my family so a lot was going on. I had to bake a cake, buy gifts, etc. etc. you get the point.**

**Anywho, I finally got this chapter up, and it is the longest yet, so that's exciting, right?**

**Enjoy :)**

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When Danny woke up, yet another day had gone by. He flipped his legs out of the cot, and inspected his wounded side. The incision was completely sealed. He smiled in spite of himself. Being half ghost did have some benefits. He came out of his cabin, suddenly starving. He realized he hadn't eaten lunch or dinner yesterday in his sleepy state.

"Mom?" he called out. "Dad? Jazz?"

No one answered, so he figured they were in the lab. He entered his parents' cabin, but no alarms went off. The lasers did not detect any ectoplasmic energy. He smiled and continued through the hall.

He finally entered the last room; the lab with the surgical table and that new "ecto-DNA" machine his parents had built. He found his family hovered around it.

Maddie was smiling wide, and her husband looked excited, too. Jazz, however, was nervously chewing her fingernails. This made Danny nervous, too.

"Danny!" Jazz exclaimed. "Guess what?" Jazz asked, her voice sounding sorta funny and a bit off. She kinda sounded half excited and half serious.

"Mom was able to salvage a bit of that ghost vermon's DNA," Jazz said, her eyes growing too big for their sockets. "Isn't that great?" Jazz added. She had said great through gritted teeth, and if Danny was being honest, she looked more furious than excited.

That was when it hit him.

His parents had officially collected Danny Phantom's DNA, _his_ DNA. The machine had read Danny's blood in five seconds. How much longer did he have? He sighed and figured it was best if they heard it from him, first. Maybe they'd be more likely to accept him.

"Mom, er, Dad... listen–" Danny began, but his mother's outburst interrupted him.

"Rats! The machine's gonna take 2 hours to read ectoplasm! And to think it worked so nicely with blood."

His mother and father were disappointed, but Danny was thrilled. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get it out the machine.

"We'll come back after breakfast," Jack offered. "I've been craving a Fenton-Cake all morning." Jack and Maddie were halfway across the threshold, and Danny was thrilled he'd be able to retrieve the DNA in just a few moments.

"Jazz, Danny, aren't you coming?" Maddie asked, not so suspicious, just confused. Jazz stiffly nodded, and stepped towards her parents, but Danny was trying to figure this out. He had to get to that machine. ASAP.

He decided he'd just have to come back since not eating wasn't a question in his starving state.

…

After his 3rd Fenton-Cake, Danny excused himself to the bathroom in his own cabin. Once inside he flashed to his ghostly form, and flew through the door. Just as he was about to pass through his parents' cabin, something obstructed him. When he looked at it, he realized his parents must have set up a ghost shield around their house. That's why the rays hasn't gone off when he entered. Still, that meant there was no way he'd be getting as a ghost.

Danny thought for a moment. If Danny Fenton just walked in, his parents would question and might follow him, but that was the only way to get inside. His eyes darted back to his parents. They weren't looking at him, but with the door creaking, they'd surely look up. But what other choice did he have?

_You could tell them_. A soft voice in the back if Danny's mind whispered. He shook his head and ignored it.

He phased back inside his own cabin, walked out and casually walked to his parents' cabin. His hand was touching the doorknob, and just as he was about to enter, a voice stopped him.

"Danny?" his mother called. Danny cursed under his breath, but turned around.

"Yes, Mom?" He asked, with a smile.

"What are you doing?"

Danny totally lost whatever he was gonna say. He had to resort to winging it, and he'd never been very good at that.

"I, er, think I saw a ghost in our cabin, and got scared. Can I use your bathroom?" He lied, uncomfortably.

Neither one of his parents heard his question. They lost track at ghost and became obsessed with it. "Ghost!" Jack Fenton cried out. Danny, realizing his mistake, tried to protest, "Now, now, it could have just been the wind."

His dad did not hear his excuse, and was bustling into the kids' cabin, his wife following shortly behind.

Jazz slowly stood up, and turned to follow her parents, but glanced over at her brother one more time before entering the cabin. Her eyes said it all.

_Be careful._

Danny smiled his appreciation, and ducked into the cabin, so he could retrieve the ectoplasm. The lasers, he figured, were turned off since they did not go off for the second time. He didn't really think much of it, and ran to the third laboratory. He finally found the Fenton DNA Tracker, and saw that the loading bar was almost complete. He didn't have much time before his DNA was saved in the memory of the machine forever.

When he tried to extract it, the machine burned his fingers, so he figured physically pulling the test tube out wasn't an option. He paced around the lab as he thought of what he could do.

He could shoot ectoplasm at it, which would make the machine malfunction, but then his parents could just build a new one, and they'd have so much more DNA to go by.

He could clearly not touch it without burning a layer of skin off, so that idea was out.

That was when it came to him. He could _freeze_ the DNA sample. If he froze it would take a few days to defrost, and then he'd be able to think of a more permanent solution. Suddenly, an even better solution came to him:

_He could freeze the entire machine._

The machine would break, and his parents would have to build a completely new one, which might take a week, so he'd be safe until then. His eyes darted around the cabin, and he quickly muttered the words, "Goin' ghost," before a beam of pure energy engulfed his entire presence. He could feel the power that it possessed, and loved how fresh, new, and energetic it made him feel. The energy spread to the tip of every last finger, and the to the floor, beyond his feet. He opened his eyes, and noticed his fine white hair hanging over his eyes. He was a ghost.

Danny reeled back, and bundling an entire ball of energy-ice, hurled it at the machine. Trapped inside, the tracker eventually fried, and stopped working. Feeling accomplished, Danny wiped his hands, and was about to phase before he realized the hole in his scheme. HIs parents saw Danny come in. They would think he, _Danny Fenton,_ destroyed the machine. He had to think of a solution quickly. That was when it came to him.

He sat right next to the machine, and froze his wrists and ankles in icy handcuffs. He phased, the bolt of light forming yet again, and noticed his thick black hair waving in his face. He was a human. Which meant...

"GHOST!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "HELP!" No less than five seconds after his cry did Jack Fenton come bustling through the doorway. Aiming his Fenton Fisher around the room, searching for the ghost that was threatening his on. Maddie did the same, but Jazz just stood there nervously.

"Where? Where's the ghost?" Maddie asked, looking at her son. "Danny!" she suddenly realized his frozen state. "What happened?" she asked serenely, and tried to help him to his feet.

"I-I heard a noise coming from the lab, so I thought I'd, er, check it out. When I came in I saw a ghost messing with your Fenton DNA Tracker! So, I, er, tried to stop him, but he handcuffed my hands and feet in these icy contraptions. Then he froze the machine, and just took off," Danny lied.

"The Fenton DNA Tracker!" his father shouted, and ran towards it, to see the damages. "It's... it's broken," Jack muttered, sadly.

Danny felt a pang of guilt, "I... I'm sorry. It's my fault. If I had been able to..." His voice trailed off, and his mother, searching for his eyes, interrupted his thought. "Danny," she began. "You-you could have been killed."

_Great._ Just what Danny needed. Now his Dad was heartbroken that the machine he'd worked so hard on was broken; and his mother was anxiously worried for his safety from, well, himself.

"It's okay mom. The ghost didn't want to hurt me. I was just, er, in his way?" he tried to comfort her.

"Which ghost?" his mom asked, darkly. Danny couldn't think of any ghost besides himself and Frostbite with freezing powers, so who else was he going to say. "Er... Danny Phantom."

Maddie's eyes darted down. "I knew it," she said, mostly to herself. "Jazz," she announced to her responsible daughter. "Take care of Danny. Keep him warm and try to melt the ice. We've got a ghost kid to catch."

Jack and Maddie ran out the lab, weapons in hand, searching for the ghost kid that was always right under their noses.

Jazz's judging glare was all she did before dragging her frozen brother out of the cabin.

…

Jazz lit a fire, and sat Danny right next to it. Finally, she decided it was time she'd get some answers.

"Danny, what really happened?" Jazz asked, sincerely. Danny inhaled before answering.

"I didn't know what else to do, so I froze the machine. Then I realized Mom and Dad would blame Danny Fenton, so I panicked and froze myself, too. I, er, kinda forgot that I couldn't unfreeze myself…"

Jazz sighed. Leave it to her brother to forget these things. He didn't always think things through.

"So, Danny, how long does defrosting normally take?" Jazz asked with a smile. Danny's handcuffs were quite hysterical.

Danny chuckled, too. "I don't know," he laughed. "I've never actually frozen myself."

An idea had suddenly come to Jazz. "Why didn't you just shout that their new tracker-thing had been frosted? Why freeze yourself?"

Danny could've punching himself in the face. "Because I didn't think of that," he moaned. Nonetheless, Jazz smiled; her smile being oddly strange and schemeful.

"Danny if you have ice powers, wouldn't your ectoplasm or something melt the ice?"

Danny nodded. Of course he knew that. _He_ was the ghost kid, after all. But how did that even apply to this-

_Oh. _

Danny smiled, catching on to what Jazz was hinting.

"Are you suggesting I go ghost?" He teased. Jazz punched his arm, but her face was smiling. "Not if you'd rather defrost 'the natural way' and take all day."

Danny sighed and instantly a beam of white light encircled his waist. The energy made him feel light and airy; the few seconds that it lasted were the few most pure and whole seconds Danny could possibly feel. When he was fully phantom and the high energy feeling dissipated, he smiled at his awed sister, and shot one finger's worth of ectoplasm on his icy ankles. The ice quickly melted into the dry dirt. Then, he shot one foot at his ensnared wrists, whose ice also evaporated quickly. Danny phased back to his human form before anyone could see him.

Once his thick black hair was once again falling into his eyes, he knew he was once again human, so he smiled at his sister and she smiled back.

"It's so amazing," she muttered, grabbing hold of her knees and resting her chin atop them. Danny was confused. "What is?" he asked. Jazz locked her blue eyes with his. "You," she said simply. Danny's expression, which indicated how flattered he was, was still quite confused. "How am_ I_ amazing?" he asked, hardly believing the words forming from his own sister's thoughts.

She unfolded her knees, and faced her brother straight on. "Danny, you're fifteen years old, frequently save the world, and still make time for your friends and family! How can you not understand how amazing it is? Plus you've actually been able to hide it from the world for a year," she added, smugly. "Don't you think Mom and Dad would be proud of you?" she asked sincerely.

Danny sighed. He didn't really want to have this conversation again. "Jazz, I… our parents cannot see good in a ghost. It's just not possible. If I told them, I see it going one of two ways: they dissect and experiment on me or they kick me out, thoroughly disgusted with my ghostly presence; either future isn't ideal."

"How do you know they wouldn't love you, just the way you are," she asked. Danny rolled his eyes, done with the conversation. "Come on, let's just go do our homework or something," he muttered, stood up, and marched towards their cabin.

Jazz eventually stood up to following him, but her sad stare held for longer than she'd thought as she watched her little brother slump off towards the cabin.

Jazz felt a pang of tears stabbing in her eyes. Her brother was just so lost.

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**Thanks for the super positive reviews everyone! Really helps with motivation throughout the week! **


	7. Flooded in Secrets and Lies

Danny walked through the forest and was clearing his thoughts. What else was he supposed to do? His parents instructed him to find firewood for their campfire tonight, but how was he supposed to find that? He couldn't very well cut up a log with his ectoplasm. A week ago his parents had nearly exposed him!

_That had been too close_, Danny thought back to when his parents had gotten some of his DNA. They wouldn't even have to do much tracking. Their fancy machine would match Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom right away. He kicked a rock on the ground. He had to be more careful.

Of course he knew Jazz was right, as she always was. He really had to stop going ghost, but with all theses ghosts running - er, flying - around, what else was he supposed to do?

As if right on cue, his icy ghost sense escaped past his lips. He rolled his eyes, but remembered how his sister told him to be careful. He thought for a short moment, and decided instead of immediately going ghost, he'd stay as Danny Fenton, and wait till the ghost came in sight. Maybe he wouldn't have to do any fighting after all, he thought hopefully.

Again, right on cue, a shadowy image emerged from behind a tree; a literal shadow, he soon realized. Which meant that Johnny 13 couldn't be too far away. Then again, Johnny 13 often asked Shadow to do his dirty work, so who knew where he was.

Danny ducked behind a tree so the shadow couldn't see him before he was ready to attack. A flash of light later, he was intangible and racing toward the fiend. "Hey Dark, Mangy, and Cold," he shouted to get its attention. "Think fast."

Danny hurled a sharp shaving of ice at Shadow, slicing him in half. Of course Danny forgot that he could simply merge back together, and as soon as he remembered, Shadow's fist was hurling towards Danny's face, sending him flying backwards. He quickly went intangible so he bumped into no trees.

How was he going to beat him? Without a good light source, Shadow was too difficult to fight, but Johnny 13? _He_ was doable. He soared through the air, and the trees. When Shadow followed him through one tree, he smiled as a branch fell to the ground. It would appear Danny had just found his source of firewood.

Still, one problem at a time, Danny needed to find Johnny 13. He soared, and attempted to follow his ghost instinct, but as soon as he turned around a tree, he was greeted by a blinding light. Noticing shadow dissolve into the air made him smile, but when he saw the source of the light, his smile faded.

Facing him and holding possibly the largest bazooka Danny had ever seen, Maddie Fenton stared at him angrily. "Eat ectoplasm, Ghost Scum," she said, menacingly.

Danny gulped as he noticed his mother pulling the trigger. Thinking quicker than his reaction time had ever thought before, he went intangible almost immediately . His quickening heartbeat let him know that the source was his adrenaline-filled-ectoplasm pumping through his veins. He flew past his mom, and tried to get out of view so he could phase. If he could just phase... she wouldn't hunt her own child right?

Every time Danny got behind any tree, his mother was always right there; one step ahead of him. He thought about going to the lake but that would be too obvious. A sudden thought came to him, and he knew he only had one shot at this. If he could phase before getting to the branch Shadow had knocked down, he could pretend to be collecting firewood this whole time. He just had to lose his mother's trace.

Finally Danny found a thick tree trunk right next to the fallen branch. He'd have to be very quick about it. He ducked right behind it, and phased in the time of half a second. The incredible energy lasted only those few moments, and it panged Danny to see it evaporate with such suddenness. He reached for a small part of the branch that had broken off, and pick it up as if he'd been there the entire time. Not two moments later, his mother, with the hood and goggles of her jumpsuit on, aimed the enormous gun straight at him. Danny gulped.

_Had his mother seen him phase?_

As if reading his mind, his mother gasped behind the bazooka, "Danny?"

Oh gosh was Danny scared now. His mother, the best ghost hunter - besides him, of course - in Amity Park discovered her son's secret identity. Should he try explaining? Should he just act dumb? Was there any hope left?

Then his mother put down the weapon. "Daniel Fenton, what were you thinking!" His mother shrieked.

_Here it comes._

"Careless, stubborn…

_Oh no._

"Most dangerous thing…

_I'm still your son._

"I have ever known you to do!"

"I-I'm sorry," Danny tried explaining.

"Sorry doesn't cover it, Mister! I nearly blew your head off!"

"I know, I know. I was just scared, I guess-"

"Scared? Scared of what? You were only collecting firewood." His mother stopped in her yelling. She appeared very confused.

"Wait, what?" Danny asked. "Can we, er, start over?"

Maddie frowned. She could tell her son was up to something.

"Danny, I know you were scared, but I had no idea you were down here."

Danny was entirely confused.

"And I know I scared you, Sweetie. I was only trying to get that darn ghost kid. What a shame he was so close, but got away."

Danny blinked. _Had his mother not seen him?_

"I mean, Danny, all you had to say was you were down here, and I never would've mistaken you for that rotting low-life. I thought I saw him come this way, but he must have went invisible. Darn ghost powers."

Danny couldn't believe it. His mother had not seen him phase. She wasn't yelling at him for keeping his secret from her; she was yelling because he didn't let her know he was down here, so she almost blasted him with the bazooka.

_Yes!_ Danny cheered under his breath.

"I just needed to collect firewood, and, er, I thought I'd just stay out of your way," Danny lied. He showed his mom a wide grin, and although she seemed a bit skeptical, she smiled, and told her son lovingly, "Well, I'm sorry I gave you such a scare, Sweetie. You head on back to camp. I'll finish collecting wood here."

Danny's wide smile turned to genuine thanks, and he exited through the woods to get back to camp. Another close one.

…

As soon Maddie returned from the woods, the Fenton family lit up a campfire, and began sharing stories. Jazz was talking about her college acceptance experience, and Jack and Maddie were both sharing stories from their own college days.

Danny smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to actually enjoy himself, and smile with his family. They weren't talking about ghosts or anything ghostly, and he was actually enjoying it.

"I wonder if Ol' Vladdy remembers that…" Jack pondered.

Danny knew that the carefree atmosphere wouldn't last long. Even though his dad didn't know it, he'd brought up Danny's arch nemesis, and the regular weight on Danny's chest suddenly returned. Frowning, he began to tune out to the conversation. He couldn't think about ghosts and ghost hunting. Not now. Not after his mother almost catching him earlier that day.

The sun was long set, and Danny knew he was going to have trouble slipping off, but he honestly couldn't be with his obnoxious family right now. He really just needed to think.

Danny's thoughts were interrupted by a small black flat stomping on his converse. "Ow," he gasped.

"Danny, Mom was asking you a question, Jazz told him, sternly.

"Wh-what? Oh sorry. What is it, Mom?" he stumbled.

Maddie frowned, "Well, Danny, it's just that you're acting a bit distant. Like your mind is somewhere else. Do you have something you want to talk about?"

Danny looked to Jazz for help, but she was intrigued for Danny's answer as well.

"No, I'm just tired is all," Danny muttered, not really catching any of their stares.

"Danny, I hope this isn't about the scare I gave you, earlier," his mother pleaded.

"What? No-"

"What scare?" Jazz asked. Danny was about to answer that it was nothing, but his mom jumped in.

"While hunting the ghost kid earlier, I almost shot Danny. It was a good thing I noticed it was him. I could never hurt my only son."

Without excusing himself, Danny rose from the log he was sitting on, and walked back to his cabin.

His ears were still ringing by his mother's words:

_I could never hurt my only son._

…

Long after Jazz exited to the cabin, and her husband was already peacefully asleep, Maddie walked to her children's cabin. Surely they'd be asleep by now, but she couldn't rest until she apologized to Danny once more. He seemed so odd at the campfire earlier.

She reached her gloved hand out to lightly knock on the door, but paused as she heard voices from the other side.

Her daughter's light, smooth voice came first.

"I don't know what to tell you Danny. I can't decide for you."

Followed by her son's slightly deeper, but much stronger words.

"I know that, but I'm just so lost. I mean, should I tell them? What if they don't accept me?"

Maddie's voice was caught in her throat. Surely the "they" Danny was speaking of couldn't be them.

"You already know what I think. I want to believe that they will love this side of you, too. But I can't guarantee anything."

Her daughter paused for a brief moment.

"Still, you heard mom at dinner tonight. She couldn't stand to let anything hurt you. She does love you, Danny."

Her son's heavy sigh came next.

"Sure, but that's because she's still in the dark…"

"Maybe you should sleep on it, Little Brother."

"You're right, but it's just this whole vacation-thing just has me on edge. I'm going crazy! I can't stop thinking about it. Even when I'm asleep..."

The next thing Maddie heard was the ruffling of cloth before she tiptoed backwards, and rushed to her cabin. Just what secret was Danny hiding?


	8. Facing Reality

"Wait! You don't understand!" Danny pleaded with his parents, but he couldn't look them in the eyes. A hot white light was aimed over his face, and his parents were hidden behind it. Probably a good thing, he thought. Danny couldn't face them.

"I think we understand perfectly, Phantom," Jack Fenton demised.

Danny was strapped to the metal table in his parents' lab. Lasers were pointing at him, and he was attempting to hide his panicked breathing.

"Mom, PLEASE! You said you'd never hurt me! I _am_ your son," Danny told himself that his eyes were watering from the blinding light above his head, but he was so terrified he knew he was crying.

_"You_ are not my son," her eyes glared through his. "My _human_ son is somewhere inside you, and I'm going to rip your ghostly molecules from his."

Danny gulped. "No! We're the same! Please just let me explain."

Petrified was an understatement to what Danny felt like right now. He could hear Jazz beating away at the door, but they both knew she wasn't going to be able to save him. No one could.

How could he have been so stupid? Actually… thinking back on it, what had Danny done to get himself caught? As hard as he tried to remember his parents snatching him he couldn't. More than that he couldn't even think about what he had for breakfast. Had he blacked out? Just how long had he been strapped to this table?

We don't want your excuses," Jack muttered, too disgusted to even look into his son's vibrant green eyes.

"Jack," Maddie thought. "If we detach his ghost side, he may forget everything. We have to know what happened to contaminated him, and prevent it from happening again."

Danny knew his mother well enough to know she only wanted to know for curiosity's sake. Still, he was appreciative of it since he may be able to change his parents' minds.

Jack Fenton sighed. "Fine, Ghost Kid, explain." His voice was stern and forceful, but Danny was thankful nonetheless.

"It all started at the beginning of ninth grade. Sam and Tucker were over, and we were all hanging out in the lab."

Danny paused for a moment, and noticed his sister's banging on the door had stopped. No doubt she was curious, too. He had never told her the full story, either.

"It was right after Dad had built the portal, but it didn't work. We were just… playing around. I stepped inside to get a better look at the genius mechanics," Danny added, hoping to win some favor with his father, but his father was impartial to it. Danny sighed and continued.

"I'm not sure what happened, but my hand hit some sort of switch, and the next thing I knew I was waking up looking into Sam's eyes.

"I remember the look of fear in her eyes, which only terrified me. I had no idea what the electrical shock had done to me, and when I looked in the mirror, my thick black hair had turned a wispy white, and my eyes were this odd lime green.

"At first I was confused, but soon it set in that I was ghost - half ghost at that. When I first got my powers, I couldn't control them. Whenever I tried shooting ectoplasm from my hands, it never worked. Sometimes parts of my body would go intangible, and I didn't even know it. I have this 'ghost sense' that lets me know when a ghost is around. After a while being a ghost, I learned that my ghost sense was the early stages of my ice powers. In other words, I can hurl icy ectoplasm at things.

"When it was just Sam, Tucker, and I, we fought ghosts everyday by locking them in the Fenton thermos, and then at night, we'd empty the container into the ghost zone. A few months into getting my powers, a ghost that thrives on other's depression, Spectra, infiltrated our school, and posed as a counselor.

"The only person who never fell under her dispirited reign was Jazz, so she was the target. When I was fighting to save Jazz, she saw me phase, and has been keeping my secret ever since."

Danny paused here, wanting to word his next sentence very carefully.

"I know that you two's life's ambition has been to hunt me down, but I've really tried the best I could to do things right, even if I made a few mistakes…" his voice trailed off, but Jack and Maddie knew where he was going with this.

Danny breathed in, and said, strongly, "I know I've kept this part of me a secret, but I'm still your son."

Maddie and Jack looked at each other and smiled, kindly.

"You're right," Maddie teared up. "You are still Danny Fenton," Jack smiled.

Then both of his parents grins turned to grimaces, and they ignited the lasers.

"Without that pesky ghost parasite living off of you!" Maddie shouted, and slammed her fist against a red button on the wall.

The blinding white light turned a bright red, and Danny screamed, the sound of his own voice drowning out his sister's cry for them to stop.

...

...

* * *

...

Danny wiped the sweat away from his hair, and laid back down against his pillow, looking up at the ceiling. "It was just a dream…" he assured her, though it sounded more like he was convincing himself. Jazz muffled something Danny couldn't hear, and went back to sleep.

"It was just a dream," he whispered to himself, and shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Danny rolled over, and attempted to control his shaking body, sweating skin, pulsing heart, and racing mind all at the same time.

"It was just a dream," he muttered

_Only a dream._


	9. Chapter 9

**So here is Chapter 9! I had do ideas for name, which is why it is just titled "Chapter Nine." Sorry, but I had absolutely no good ideas!**

**This one is pretty long because the last one wasn't even 1000 words (999), and I felt bad, so I made this chapter the longest one yet!**

**Happy reading :)**

* * *

Maddie Fenton was up before the sun. She pounced out of bed, and smiled at her snoring husband. She tiptoed off to the bathroom to take her shower. She really did need to clear her mind right now.

She turned the hot water handle clockwise, and twisted the cold water a few notches. The steam was already starting to surface. Maddie walked over to the small mirror above the sink, and rested her palms on the outside of the basin. She stared down at the sink, and fiercely bit her lip. No way was she crying. She couldn't afford to. And yet, when she stared up into her teary blue eyes, she couldn't stop. She was sobbing. Not only that, but she was violently gasping for air. Thank god the beating water of the shower was so loud because Maddie did not want her husband coming in.

She noticed Danny had been acting strange since he started high school, but all teenagers did that right? She never thought anything of his strange disappearances or how he always seemed so distant. Then almost halfway into Danny's freshman year, Jazz started acting different, too.

Sure Maddie considered the regular possibilities. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. She never worried too much because she figured whatever they were going through just needed to take its course, and it would soon blow over. Besides they had each other to protect the other. So why was she getting so worked up over what she'd heard last night? She always knew that Danny and Jazz had been keeping secrets. I mean it had been pretty obvious. But now that she knew their side - their point of view - of the situation, it all seemed so different. Danny was hiding something big, something that he thought she wouldn't accept him over.

Maddie slipped out of her flannel pajamas, and stepped into the abyss of steam.

_Something she was going to find out._

…

"Jazz," Danny shook his sister awake. When her eyes drifted open, she noticed that her brother was already dressed for the day.

"Hurry up, and get dressed. It's important." Jazz nodded sleepily, and pulled her black shirt over her head. Slipping her flats on, she followed Danny out of the door, and into the vast woods.

Once they were safely encased in the thick trees, Danny turned to explain to his sister.

"Do you believe that dreams can portray the future?" he asked. Jazz was shocked by the question, but nonetheless pondered for a moment. "I suppose so. It's the subconscious' way of warning the body off. Why? Did you have a bad dream?" She clearly didn't remember the middle of the night, so Danny decided to refresh her memory.

"Yea, last night-" He was about to go on, but he heard a rustle in the leaves of a nearby bush. Danny may have been slightly paranoid, but he would rather be safe than sorry.

Danny grabbed his sister's arm, and led her through even denser trees. Eventually they came to a tall mountain. "Hang on," Danny instructed, and phased before her. He grabbed Jazz, and flew both of them up high against the mountain. He found a small, but sheltered cave in the middle, and settled down in it.

Once Jazz was on her feet, Danny sat down on the edge of the mouth. He phased again, clinging to the energy like it was his last hope.

"So your dream," Jazz reminded him, and took a seat to his right. Danny looked out onto the early morning horizon.

"I dreamt that… I dreamt that Mom and Dad finally caught me… I told them I was their son, but they wanted to rip the ghost part out of me. They couldn't accept that I was half ghost. Even after I explained myself…" Danny sighed. "I know you said to sleep on it, and I did, and look what happened. My mind is telling me not to tell them, so why does my heart say to spill?"

Jazz thought for a moment before responding. Though she always liked acting much older and more mature than her brother — and she did love how much he relied on her — this time she couldn't think of the right thing to say. She let out a frustrated huff. "Danny I told you a million times what I think of this situation." Her voice sounded harsh, but she hasn't meant for it to come out that way. She smiled gently at Danny, and said, much softer this time, "They are your parents."

Danny was about to reply, but when he opened his mouth, an icy puff escaped past his lips. "Crap," he muttered.

Jazz knew exactly what it meant, so she backed up to give him room. Just before Danny was able to phase, Skulker slammed his heavy metal boots onto the mouth of the cave.

"Ghost X," Jazz whispered in awe.

"How sweet," he glared. "Now I can capture your sister, too, Ghost Kid. I'm sure both of hides will look excellent mounted above my fireplace." He aimed his gun at Danny, and when he fired it, Danny was thrown far back into the deep cave.

Danny went sailing. It felt like a mile that he tumbled through the air until he finally saw the back wall of the cave quickly approaching his body. He held his arm out to block the rest of his body from the crash, but eventually slumped into a fetal position on the ground.

His wrist. He could hardly move it. He winced every time he tried. Then he remembered Jazz. He had to save her.

He lifted his hurt hand and tried to prop himself up, but he just found his face slammed yet again onto the cold, hard stone flooring.

Danny closed his eyes, and tensed all his muscles at the same time. When his eyes reopened they were glowing green with rage. He had to save his sister. He finally managed to get up, and he phased, hoping Skulker wouldn't see the blinding light, so that he had the element of surprise on his side. He then blasted off towards the opening of the cave to save his sister.

When he finally got to the mouth, he stopped flying, and landed in a fighting stance. He was ready to right, but had to blink a few times before he saw his sister standing by herself, holding the Fenton Thermos.

"What did you do?" Danny asked, and scratched his head. Then he, too, was hit with an electrical shock as he fell to the ground unconscious.

Jazz gasped as her brother slammed his face against the stone. Her parents were standing behind him folding a fully charged electrical taser.

"Great job distracting him, Honey," Maddie congratulated. "We finally got him!" Jack added.

Jazz had to think fast. "Wait!" she screamed just before her mother was going to bind his hands and ankles. "Er, Danny's here somewhere. I'll take care of the ghost kid, but you two go find my brother!" She tried to make her voice sound as urgent as possible.

"What?" Maddie shrieked. "Jack, go find Danny. I've got this."

"No!" Jazz protested. "If you two split up, you'll find him faster."

"Good point," Maddie admitted. "He won't stay unconscious forever, are you sure you can handle him?"

Jazz smiled. "No worries. I have the Fenton Thermos and Spector Deflector. I'll be fine."

Maddie nodded, and Jazz watched as her parents disappeared into the endless black cave.

"I'm sorry about this Danny," Jazz whispered as she crouched down to him. She unhooked her Specter Deflector, and reattached the ends around Danny's waist. His body twitched in pain, but his consciousness soon returned, and he groaned softly in pain. Jazz quickly took off the Specter Deflector, and set it on the ground of the wall.

"It's okay," she assured, and flipped him over to his back. Danny gasped in pain when she tried to grab his wrist to pull him over against the wall.

"Ow!" he shrieked.

"I'm sorry," Jazz ushered, and grabbed him by under the armpits to pull him up against the wall. Once he was propped up against the wall, Jazz looked deep into his blue eyes.

"Danny," she pressed. "What hurts?"

Danny could hardly talk through his heavy breathing. "M-my wrist," he managed to get out.

He must have landed funny on it, Jazz thought. "Phast," she ordered. "Now." He obeyed, almost too exhausted to even do that. Though the energy felt incredible it was painfully only a second long.

"Mom! Dad!" Jazz called into the darkness. When she looked back at Danny, he was unconscious again. She stood up, and ran to rehook her Spector Defector before her parents came into view.

"What is it?" Her mother asked, quizzically.

"I found Danny," Jazz said powerfully, and showed them the way to their hurt son.

"Danny!" his mother shrieked when she saw his broken state. "What happened?" She turned to face Jazz for an explanation.

Jazz was never good at making up stories on the spot like her brother could, so instead she bought herself some time to think. "I'll explain back at camp," she announced.

When Jack tried to help Danny up by pulling on his arm, he let out a gasp of pain. "My wrist," he breathed.

Maddie looked sadly at her son before aiding her husband in lifting him up, and ensuring he wasn't going to drop him.

The family of four walked down the mountain, back to the campsite. Maddie led the way, and Jack was cradling Danny shortly behind her. Jazz walked slowly behind her parents with her arms crossed over her chest, lost in her thoughts. Just what story was she going to tell?

…

"Okay, Jasmine I want to know who did this I you, and I want to know now," Maddie Fenton's voice demanded. She was huddled over her son's weak body, making sure he was okay. Jazz sighed, though she had planned this out in every minuscule detail.

"Danny and I wanted a good view at the sun rise, so we climbed up there early this morning. Once up there we saw a horrifying ghost. He had odd armor. I'd never seen anything like it before. Danny tried to protect me, but the ghost flung him aside, and he went sailing against the wall. The ghost kid came in, and punched the ghost a few times. Eventually he flew away, and the kid was going to follow him, but you two showed up and struck him down."

"And the ghost kid… where is he now?" Jack insisted. He was almost panicking over this.

Jazz took a deep breath. This was the hard part to make up, and she wasn't sure her parents were going to buy it. "I let him go." She paused at the expected gasps from her parents.

"I know you both think he's evil, but if he hadn't come to our rescue, Danny and I both would've died. You should be thanking him," she urged.

"I will never thank a ghost," Jack spat. "I have nothing to be thankful for."

Jazz was furious. "How about your son's life?"

Though Jack made no move to retort, Maddie called an end to the conversation. "Stop it. Both of you, and let me listen."

She was holding a stethoscope over Danny's heart. "His breathing is short, but he'll catch his breath after he relaxes."

"It's his wrist," Jazz explained, cautiously. Maddie inspected the swollen left radius, and rubbed it. Danny winced where the most tension was, and Maddie knew she'd found the source of the injury. She felt around, and patted Danny's head when she was done with the inspection. "You sprained your wrist, Boo," she told him. Then she stood up, and looked at her daughter. "Jazz," she instructed. "Help your brother to his bed. He needs to rest for a while, and let his body heal."

Danny rose by himself, and they both walked back to the cabin, and once the door clicked shut, Danny's face looked depressed.

"I failed," he admitted. "If you hadn't been there, who knows what would've happened to me."

Jazz kissed Danny's forehead. "You did not fail, Little Brother. You're _my_ hero." Danny smiled, but he wasn't feeling much better about himself. "You should rest," she reminded him.

He reluctantly nodded, and was about to turn to enter their room, when Jazz's voice stopped him. "I'll stay with you," she announced, as if reading Danny's lonely mind. "I've been wanting to read anyways."

Danny smiled. "You've read Wuthering Heights like a thousand times… you already know what's going to happen, so how can you be in the mood to read?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I just need to," Jazz explained.

_When you're worried about me_, Danny thought to himself. Though he wanted to say that, he only nodded, and flopped onto his bed, suddenly freezing. Danny was going to investigate why he was so tired, but sleep got the better of him, and reality slipped away.

…

When Danny woke up, he looked out the small window in his and Jazz's room. "You slept through lunch," Jazz explained. Danny turned his head to the sound of the voice, just noticing she was still reading in the corner opposite his cot. "It's almost 5 o'clock," she added.

Danny nodded his understanding, and listened to his stomach's deep roar. He was just remembering he never had breakfast, so he was starving.

Danny laid on his left arm, and tried to push himself up and out of bed, but as soon as his arm got any pressure on it, he gasped as a shot of pain ignited his entire arm.

"I'm not sure if you remember," Jazz began. "But you sprained your wrist."

"What! How?" Danny shrieked.

Jazz looked up from her book, and stared quizzically at her brother. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I think it was when Skulker through you against the wall, but it also might have been when Mom and Dad shocked you. Whichever, it's sprained now."

As soon as Danny threw his covers off of him, he was hit by a stunning frozen sensation. "Is it just me or is it freezing?" Danny asked his sister as he was careful getting out f bed without using his left arm.

Jaz shrugged. "I'm fine. Your body's probably just adjusting from being under the covers to being out in the open," she reasoned.

"Yea, maybe," Danny muttered, though the only other time he could remember being this cold was when he first got his freeze powers. He let it blow over, and decided Jazz was most likely right; he'd warm up soon.

Danny turned to exit the room, but he noticed Jazz was making no move to get up. "You coming?" he asked. Jazz nodded, not taking her eyes off her book. "In a sec. Let me finish my chapter, first." Danny nodded, and left to find something to eat.

Once he was out in the early evening sun, Danny began piling into the Fenton jerky. Having not eaten for over 12 hours, he was starving. Dannh couldn't even remember the last time he'd gone without food for so long, so he ravenously dug in.

As soon as he'd eaten his weight in jerky and chips, he probably drank a gallon of water, suddenly remembering how long it'd been since he'd had anything to drink, too.

"Danny!" his mother shrieked at seeing him. "You're awake. That's lovely," as smiled.

Maddie paused and walked over to her son. "I have a thicker gauze here for your wrist. Here," she said, extending her hand so Danny could place his in hers. "Let me take a look."

Danny hesitantly gave his mother his wrist, and allowed her to unwrap and rewrap it. Since he'd stayed human, his ghostly ectoplasm didn't enhance his healing, so there were no questions asked, thank god.

"Danny," Maddie started, quizzically. He knew it was too good to be true. "Are you shivering?" Danny suddenly realized he was. "Er, what? No I'm just, er, a little cold, I guess." Maddie appeared unconvinced. She pursed her lips, and laid one hand on his shaking forehead.

"You're burning up," she awed. "Go lay down. I'll come in a second."

Danny nodded, suddenly almost too tired to slump back to his cabin. Whatever had just come over him was almost instantaneous. He had been feeling fine, but then it just hit him.

When Danny reentered his cabin, he almost ran into Jazz. "I was just going outside," she explained. "You should stay out there, and soak up some Vitamin D. Come on."

Danny sighed. "Mom says I have a fever, so I have to come lay down for awhile." He walked past her, and jumped into his cot.

Jazz noticed that Danny was shivering, and that the covers were pulled up to his chin. Jazz took the heavier blanket from her bed, and laid it across Danny as well. She was about to leave him to sleep when she noticed something peculiar.

"Danny, Mom said you had a fever, right?"

All Danny could suffice was a short nod. Opening his mouth took too much energy from him, let alone talking.

Jazz scraped her fingers along his hot, dry forehead.

"Then shouldn't you be sweating?"

Danny thought for a moment, but shook his head to clear his mind. "I-I'm not sure…" he muttered before rolling over, and closing his heavy eyes. Jazz took this as a cue to leave, but there was one thing she knew for sure:

This was not a natural fever.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I hope you liked this chapter, but I have no way of knowing your true feelings about it, unless you review _*hint *hint_**

**I actually split this in two because it got so long, so Chapter 10 will most likely be up shortly... unless I just get super sidetracked... guess we'll just have to see. :D**


	10. Feverish Scares

Jazz exited through the cabin with her arms crossed. She really needed to think right now. She sat down on a log next to the campfire from the night before, and massaged her temples. _What was wrong with Danny?_ she wondered.

Jazz may not be a doctor, but she knew that you were supposed to sweat during a fever. That's why you are always so thirsty! It is the body's way of cooling down since your internal heat is flaming. Jazz was at a loss for an explanation, but she knew she couldn't ask her parents. They would most likely not even notice. How could she fix this? She didn't even know what caused it.

Then an idea came to her. She stood up with excitement, and rushed to her parent's cabin where she could find her father, content in his lab.

…

Maddie Fenton sat on her daughter's cot watching her son sleep. Tears rushed in her eyes as she remembered he was hiding something. Something really big. She reached her arm out to stroke his hair from his face. As her dainty fingers grazed his forehead, she realized he wasn't sweating. She got closer, and bent over his sleeping body to get a better look. Maddie was past confused for this. If Danny wasn't going to sweat out this fever, what could she do to help his body heal? She had no proper medicine or tools. But she did in the lab! The next time Danny woke up she decided that she would move him to the lab, so she could give him the proper treatment.

…

"Dad!" Jazz called to him once he was in sight. After going through the entire cabin, and not finding him, she finally found him on the outside of the back of the cabin, working on a new invention. He looked up briefly from his work, but was still quite angry at his daughter for letting the ghost boy run free.

Jazz rolled her eyes at her father's grudge, and sat down next to him. Neither of them said anything for a while, but soon Jack put his new toy aside since it was clearly evident that Jazz was staying.

"What is it?" he asked her, making sure his voice didn't sound too harsh.

"I was just... just curious..." her voice trailed off, unsure about what she was going to say.

"Curious about what?" Jack asked, suddenly intrigued.

"The ghost boy," Jazz started, but paused because she noticed her father tense. Still she had to save Danny, so she kept going.

"What did you do to him?" Her worried eyes sickened Jack.

"I wouldn't be surprised if your boyfriend's gonna come around here within a day or two," he chuckled, darkly.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Jazz's voice cracked with her nerves.

"I just got a little revenge."

Jazz's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "What do you mean _revenge?"_

Jack sighed at her daughter's interest with the ghost. If only her high-interests were against them.

"Well, surely you remember how he froze my newly invented machine," Jack began. Jazz nodded her understanding with the matter.

"The shock I struck him with had a... freezing effect, we'll say. Right now he is most likely shivering his ghostly bottom off, and there is nothing he can do about it," Jack said, proudly. Jazz was not proud, however. She was horrified.

"Then why would I be seeing him soon?" she asked.

"Because I am the only one who has the antidote, and I am the only one who knows where it is. He'll freeze - literally from the inside out - or have to come and get it. Little does he know, it is him that is going to be gotten."

Jazz stood up, and turned her back towards her father. She inhaled to calm herself down, and violently bit her lip, so it wouldn't quiver. Tears began silently streaming down her face, but she had to say this one last thing before she left.

"I know you don't like ghosts, Dad, but there comes a point in your life where you have to decide what you feel more of: hatred for ghosts or love of your children."

Jazz left her father who dwell on her last statement, and walked into the woods.

Once she was safely encased in the thick, dark trees, she walked around the campsite, and exited through the dense trees on the opposite side, making a semicircle. She was about to open the door to the lab, when her mother spotted her. She had Danny's right arm slung around her shoulder, and she was trying to get him to walk.

"Jazz," her mother noticed her. "Here. Help me carry your brother. I need to get him on the lab table so I can see what's wrong with him."

"What do you mean?" Jazz played.

"I don't think this fever is going to blow over. He isn't sweating, and I'm not sure how he's going to get better without sweating out the heat." Jazz gasped, softly. Her mother had noticed.

She ran to her mother's aid, and lifted Danny's sprained left arm around her shoulder to help him walk towards the cabin. He was awake, but just barely.

…

Danny's blue eyes opened slowly. He was looking up at a bright light above his head, which panged his newly enlightened eyes. After blinking a few times and letting his eyes adjust, he realized he was laying down on the lab table.

He sat straight up, and looked around, his heart beating quickly. He tried to control his breathing, but he was terrified. _Why was he sitting on his parent's lab table? Did they know his secret? Why wasn't he strapped down? What was going on?_

Jazz looked up from _Wuthering Heights,_ and smiled. She quickly set the book down, and ran to him. "Danny," she breathed.

Seeing his sister calmed Danny greatly, but he still had no idea why he was here.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Jazz answered his question with another question. "What do you remember?"

He thought for a moment before responding. "We were in that cave, and then Skulker came in, and he threw me aside before I was able to go ghost, and then turned to you... What happened? You were holding the Fenton thermos when I came back."

"He came after me, and was about snatch me, but as soon as he got within an inch, fell down. His body - or armor, I guess - kinda twitched a bit, but then I remembered I had the Specter Deflector on. Once he was down and unconscious, I just pointed the thermos at him, and vacuumed him up," she told him.

"Wow, nice one," he remarked, and continued on what he recalled. "Then... I was... I was shot with something. Something incredibly powerful and painful.

"I woke up, and remember piling into some jerky, and you told me I sprained my wrist," he winced at the memory. "Now I'm here," he pondered.

"It was mom and dad that electrified you," Jazz explained. "They wanted revenge for when you froze their stupid machine, so they added some kind of substance in the bolt to freeze you. I think it gave you a fever because your body was trying to warm itself from the coldness that was pulsing through your veins. It appeared hot on the outside because the freezing sensation was occurring only in the inside."

Danny was shocked. "Wow. I didn't know Mom and Dad had that in them."

Jazz nodded her agreement. "Anyways," she continued. "I only know all this because Dad told me. He also said there was an antidote that only he knew about, but he was never the greatest hider," she smiled.

"And how did I get here?" he asked.

"Mom wanted to observe you more closely, so I helped her bring you in here. Once you were situated, I told her she could leave to fix dinner, and that I'd watch you, when in reality, I needed to find the antidote, so I began searching through every corner and flat surface until I finally found it."

"Where was it?" Danny asked.

"Where do you think?" she smirked.

"Behind the emergency ham," they both said together.

…

Maddie Fenton decided that it was high time she check on her only son. It had been almost an hour since she left him with his sister, and she wanted to see how he was doing. Afterall, dinner was ready, so she should probably get Jazz anyways.

She entered the cabin, and walked in her silent jumpsuit-shoes towards the lab that contained her only two children.

"...emergency ham," she heard her children say together. Danny was awake! She quickened her pace, to greet him. Maddie could see the light now coming from the lab, but something made her stop in her tracks.

"And my secret?" Danny asked, obviously worried.

"Is safe with me," she heard her daughter say, her smile evident through the tone of her voice.

Maddie's voice was stuck in her throat. Not the horrible secret again. Maddie couldn't take anymore of the lies going on in this family. She had had enough. She walked closer to the entrance, and knocked softly on the door.

"Danny," she smiled. "I'm so happy you're awake. How are you feeling? I gave you a dose of Tylenol to bring down that awful fever you had." She noticed her son's slight hesitation before responding, and the lump that moved down his throat.

"I-I feel great. The medicine must've really worked!" he said, fakely.

Maddie made sure not to give away that she knew anything, so she simply returned the fake attitude, and smiled wider. "That is wonderful, Sweetie. Dinner's ready, so if you two want to come on out, now."

Jazz got up, and Danny swung his legs over the edge of the table. They both followed their mother out of the cabin towards the campfire.

Once everyone was seated and served, Maddie's mind began to leave the conversation, and track off to her own worried thoughts.

She had to devise a plan where Danny told her what was bugging him so much. She had to come up with something... anything...

Then an idea came to him.

…

"Everyone, listen," Danny's mother announced, interrupting the conversation.

Everyone silenced, and turned their focus to her.

Maddie opened her mouth a few times before finally going on. "I think we should go camping."

Danny laughed. "We are camping, Mom."

"No," she continued. "I mean take our sleeping bags, and a tent and go into the woods. We can split up into two groups. Danny and I, and Jazz and Jack. We can leave in the morning." She was clearly happy with this arrangement.

"Why?" Danny heard Jazz ask the question on his mind.

"Well ever since you let the ghost boy free," she explained to Jazz. "Your father has been a little... irritated, so this could be the perfect bonding experience for both of you!" She turned her attention to Danny. "And I'm always up for spending quality, one-on-one time with my only son," she smiled.

"So after everyone finishes up, we can go pack, and we leave in the morning," she decided.

Jazz hesitated before responding. "I'll agree on one condition." The silence of her family permitted her continuance. "Nothing of ghostly assorts. No weapons, trackers, or even regular appliances. If it has anything to do with ghosts, I'll come back to camp." Danny nodded his agreement wit her, and they both turned to see their parents' response.

Maddie thought of the dangers for a moment, but she really needed this with Danny, so she nodded.

Jack was harder to convince, but one look from his wife's face, and his head was bobbing up and down as well.

Jazz smiled at her wonderfully planned scheme.

…

After everyone had finished dinner, Danny and Jazz returned to their room to pack for the morning.

"Is it just me, or does this 'camping trip' seem a bit... I don't know... planned? Like it wasn't a spur the moment decision?" Danny pondered.

Jazz shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose Mom could have an alternative motive than just quality time together. It doesn't matter because Skulker is gone, and there will be no need to go ghost, so we'll be perfectly safe," she smiled.

Danny lied, "Yep. Safe."

Jazz's eyes narrowed. "What are you not telling me?" She saw right through Danny, as always.

"Nothing!" he lied, again, but the look on his sister's face told him to just tell her. "It's nothing. It's just... I sorta also saw Technus, but he flew away before I could get him."

"Danny!" Jazz accused.

"It's fine! It's not like there's any technology for him to overcome. Unless he got into Mom and Dad's lab, but that has a ghost zone around it, so it's fine!" He assured her, but he was really convincing himself.

Jazz finished packing and zipped up her bag before responding. "I hope you're right," she said, sadly.

_Me, too_, Danny said to himself.

* * *

**Hey there! So I was thankfully able to get this chapter up pretty quickly, thanks to all those fantastic reviews :)**

**So for the next two chapters, I was going to do one as Maddie/Danny's adventure and one as Jazz/Jack's trip. I have not started on either, but I was wondering which one you guys want first, so I can start with that one. Make sure to comment "Team Madds and Phantom" or "Team Jack-o-Jazz." Whichever has the most votes will come up first. **

**Thanks to everyone already reviewing, and to those who aren't... **

**Anyways don't forget to tell me which chapter you want out first!**


	11. Maddie's Inquiry

**WOW.**

**This chapter came to a whopping 6,033 words (OH MY GOSH!)**

**I was actually shocked at that big number, but seriously, copy past this in a word counter if you don't believe me. It might take you a few days to read this one, which is good because I don't know when the next chapter will be out. :P Oh and Maddie and Danny's trip won, so that is the one I am posting first.**

**But enough about that. You have some reading to get to :)**

* * *

Danny woke up with the sun that morning. He threw himself out of bed. Today was the day him and his mother going camping together... alone. There was no way in hell she was going to let him out of her sight to fight a ghost, so he could pray there wouldn't be any. And if their were, he was counting on his mother to take care of it.

He was expecting to have some nice alone time to sort things out. It was the reason he'd woken up so early in the first place! But when he exited his cabin, he was greeted by his mother sitting on the logs around the campfire.

"Danny!" his mother shrieked. "How did you sleep?" she asked.

"Fine," Danny answered shortly. His tone sounded harsh, but it was only because he was a little annoyed at his mother's idea of "bonding." He had hoped that she wouldn't notice the coarse tone, but one look at her face gave away that she had.

"Oh," she began, a little shocked. "Are you excited for the next two nights?" she asked, trying to lighten the air.

Danny tried his best to return the happy attitude, so he showed a wide smile, and told her, "Yeah! I can't wait. As long as it's nothing like the last one," he joked.

This made his mother smile at the memory of their unplanned camping trip where Vlad Masters had not only hit on her, but when she declined, threw them from his home, _and_ sent crazy ghost-experiments after them; of course, Maddie didn't know about that last part

Danny realized he was still standing in front of his cabin door, so he walked to meet her, and sat on the same log to her left. "So what's for breakfast?" he asked, changing the subject.

Maddie poured him a bowl, and offered it to him. "Oatmeal. It's got some sugar in it."

Danny accepted it, and dug into his serving. He always woke up hungry, and being as he was knocked out for a lot of the day yesterday, he was even more hungry than usual.

Once he was done, Maddie suggested that he go get his pack, and she hers. She would wake up Jack, and he would wake up Jazz. They departed, but returned within five minutes to the area between the two cabins. Maddie's eyes asked Danny if he was ready, and Danny told her yes with a smiling nod. He was trying his hardest to stay positive through this trip.

…

Within an hour or so of walking, Danny was exhausted. He had never realized how out of shape his human form was until the moment his knees were about to give under all his body weight. God did he wish he could just go ghost; just for that unique energy shoot it would give him. Then he reminded himself of the dangers, and realized he probably shouldn't.

"How much longer?" he asked his mom, sounding defeated. Maddie, who was still hyped up with energy smiled cheerily. " 'How much longer'?" she quoted. "We've only just begun!"

"I didn't know this was a hiking trip," he muttered, not realizing his mother's owl ears.

"It isn't. I know the best landing to camp out on that's just a little uphill. I was so happy when you woke up with the morning sun because I wanted to get an early start with the journey!"

Danny groaned, "How much further is it?"

Maddie thought for a moment before responding. "I'd say we'll make it in maybe two or three hours. Depending on our pace."

Danny was terrified for the next three days. He had no idea what to expect or what he was going to tell his mother. He tried to remind himself that if he did need to go ghost, his mother had at least not brought any ghost equipment with them.

There was still one problem Danny couldn't sort out. If a ghost threat appeared, and his mother tried to protect him with her body, so he couldn't get away, what was he going to do? As far as Danny could tell there were two things possible: one, go ghost in his mother's grip, or two, let them both die.

Frankly, Danny couldn't decide which he would rather.

…

Danny stopped in his tracks when he heard a low grumble, and felt his stomach vibrate. He was starving. Danny had no phone or watch, but he could tell by the position of the sky that it was most likely noon. He called out to his mother, who had kept walking on.

"Mom! Is it time for lunch now?" he asked. Danny watch as his mother stopped in her tracks as well, and turned to face him.

"Sure. We're almost there anyway, so now would be a good time to stop." Maddie sat down, and took a small sack from her larger Fenton backpack.

She laid out peanut butter and bread. She held up a knife, and offered for Danny to make his sandwich first. He accepted, not having the patience to be polite with his hunger, and dug into the jar of JIF Peanut Butter, as he spread the creamy goodness onto his bunny bread. Once his bread was thoroughly lathered, he handed his mom the peanut butter jar, with the knife sitting in it, and she did the same.

"You're having fun, right Danny?" his mother asked out of the blue.

He nodded, his mouth too full of sticky bread and peanut butter to speak. Once he swallowed, and regained control of his voice, he told his mother, "Yeah! It hasn't even started yet, and I'm having a great time!"

Unfortunately, Maddie noticed her son's lying tone, and hung her head. Danny smiled. "I'm serious, Mom," he said, genuinely. "I'm having a great time."

Maddie bit her lip, and tried to fight back the urge to say what was really on her mind. She had told herself she would do it, but now that she was here, Maddie had no idea how she was going to bring it up. She opened her mouth, but stopped mid effort because she noticed Danny's lips part.

Danny had intended on asking his mother what was on her mind, but when he opened his mouth to do so, an icy puff escaped his lips. Danny's eyes widened in horror, and he knew he had to think of a quick solution.

"Can we get a move on?" he asked, sounding a bit agitated though he had no idea why. "I really want to see this nice place you talked about."  
Maddie was a little confused at his hurriedness, but she nonetheless packed up the food, and motioned for him to follow her uphill.

Danny tried to walk next to her, but kept lagging behind as he patrolled the sky for any unwanted ghost friends. He looked throughout the trees, but whatever enemy of his that it was, they were not showing themselves. Danny tried to calm his nerves and say that it might just be something like the Box Ghost, but his gut instinct was telling him that was most likely inaccurate. Still, what was he going to do? He couldn't go ghost not with his mom around. Then again, maybe he wouldn't have to. His ghost sense hadn't gone off since, so maybe they were flying by, and minding their own-

He'd spoken too soon. Before he was even able to complete his thought, a ghostly breath escaped him, and this time he saw the ghost that triggered his ghost sense. It was the same ghost from school two weeks ago. Danny shook his head, in utter disbelief, and looked up on the high tree branch again, but he was gone. Just like when he went outside yesterday, he disappeared.

Danny knew he shouldn't be shocked. He was a ghost, and he could just disappear. As a matter of fact, the ghost could still be there, just invisible. It didn't matter because Danny suddenly realized his mom noticed him staring up at the tree.

"Are you alright?" She asked empathetically.

Danny shook his head, removed from his trance, and faced his mother. "Yeah, I just thought I saw a, er, woodpecker," he lied.

"Really? Where?" his mother asked excitedly.

"It, er, flew away. It was, er, pretty, though."

"Wow," his mother awed. "What color was it?"

Danny gulped. _How was he supposed to know what color a woodpecker was?_

He took his best guess, and hoped for the best. "Er, blue."

Maddie smiled widely. "Sounds pretty."

She kept walking, and Danny trailed behind, making sure to keep looking up in case that scientist-ghost guy came back.

…

An hour later, and with no more ghostly disturbances, Danny and his mother finally reached the small, open spot up the mountain. "We're here!" Maddie exclaimed, and threw her Fenton-pack down. Danny looked around.

The small, circular grassland was surrounded by trees. In every way Danny looked, he couldn't see behind the dense forest. Being it fall, the leaves were beautiful hues of red and yellow. Fallen colorful leaves were laid across the field, and Danny had to admit it: his mother was completely right. This landing was beyond beautiful. The serene setting calmed Danny's anxious nerves, and for a few short seconds he'd forgotten about ghosts and ghost hunting.

Then his ghost sense went off.

Danny felt the icy chill from deep within his throat, continuing until it passed his lips. Danny slapped his hand on his forehead. How could this get any worse?

"Are you alright?" his mother asked, seeing him slap himself in the face.

Danny, who had a lot of practice with the matter, thought of a quick excuse on the spot. "Fine. I just thought I felt like a bug or something crawl on my forehead. Er, probably just a gnat." Maddie thought nothing else of the white lie, and sat down to take things out of her bag.

"We only have a few more hours of daylight left, so one of us will have to set up camp, and one collect some firewood because we don't have time to do both," Maddie decided. Danny nodded his understanding, and asked his mother, "Alright. Which do you want to do?"

"It's up to you, Sweetie," his mother responded, cheerily.

Danny shrugged. "I guess I'll stay here and set up the tent," he decided, remembering the last time he'd collected firewood. Maddie nodded, and turned to leave her son to do his work while she did hers.

…

Once his mother was no longer insight, he looked around in all the trees, and up at the sky. Where was that ghost? He looked in every spot thought possible, but he realized the ghost was either invisible or flew away. Danny had a hunch for the former, though. He finally gave up his search, and bent over the pile of cloth and stakes. He sighed and began working on the tent.

After a few failed attempts and having to start over a lot, Danny finally got the tent set up right, and smiled proudly at himself for doing so. Just in time, too because his mother walked out of the woods holding a bundle of sticks.

"I see you got lucky," Danny smiled, and ran over to help his mom with the load. She smiled back, and handed him a few sticks. "We can set up the fire right here," Maddie decided, and dropped her sticks on the ground, 4 yards from the opening of the tent. Danny did the same, and within ten minutes, his mother had a crackling fire going. It was a good thing, too because the orangey sky gave away that sunset was upon them.

His mother took out a box of elbow noodle pasta, and poured water from her water bottle into the metal pot. How she was able to fit everything in the small pack was amazing to Danny. Once the water was boiling, his mother added the noodles, and in 15 minutes - though it felt like hours to Danny - the dinner was ready, and fully flavored with powdered cheese. Maddie served Danny and herself a bowl, and they both dug in, starving from the long hike up.

"I'm really glad you decided to come, Danny," his mother smiled. Though Danny normally would've made a witty remark about how it wasn't really a choice, he didn't. "I'm really glad you came up with the idea," was what he said instead. This made Maddie blush. She couldn't believe how easy this was. Her son was - almost - opening up to her. Just a few more right words, and he'd be spilling!

"I'm very sorry about what happened to your wrist," she said empathetically. "It's not your fault," Danny said, adjusting his position uncomfortably.

"Not directly, no, but I should've been there to protect you," his mother looked away from him. Danny awkwardly shoveled more food into his mouth.

"It's okay, Mom. I'm fifteen. I think I can take care of myself," he smiled.

Danny felt his throat go cold, and could almost feel the goosebumps on his tongue. The ball of icy air traveled upwards, and finally appeared out his lips. His ghost sense.

Why? That was all Danny needed to know. Why, of all times, had his ghost sense been going off so many times in a span of a few hours? Did the world just want his own mother to dissect him?

He knew he couldn't go ghost; not yet. But if he waited until the ghost emerged from the shadows, he'd never get a chance.

He heard a rumbling in the bushes, and felt his blood run cold. "Danny, are you alright?" his mother asked. "You look a bit pale."

Danny didn't have time to respond because suddenly a hairy ghost in a lime green hoody tumbled through the bush that Danny heard..

_Wulf!_ Danny exclaimed to himself. He was so thankful that there would be no real need to go ghost. Wulf, though a viscous thing, was an ally of Danny, and they had helped each other through a lot.

He looked through the enormous green eyes at the happy ghost. Wulf was panting and smiling at his friend. .

Hey Wulf, his eyes smiled back. Then he saw the cuffs binding Wulf's front paws.

"Danny!" his mother shielded him. "Step away from the ghost!"

Danny suddenly remembered that his mother had no idea that this ghost was a friend, not a foe. How was he going to explain without revealing his secret? Though his mother seemed more open minded about ghosts than his father, she still had a one-track mind to kill all ghosts.

"Wait," he pulled away from her protective embrace. "If he'd wanted to hurt us, he could've already done that from way over there," he explained. She was shocked and took a step back. "Y-you're defending him? A ghost?"

Danny hung his head. "His front paws are chained. He just needs our help." Danny placed one hand on Wulf's snout to show his understanding, but it was ripped off by his mother. "What are you doing? That thing is dangerous!" His mother warned. Danny pried his mother's fingers from his, and put his hand back on his snout, trying to communicate without words to Wulf that everything was going to be okay.

"Mom," he protested. "Not _all_ ghosts are evil. Look at him. He's injured and helpless. Someone handcuffed his paws together we have to do something! Anything with ectoplasm should melt it away!"

Maddie looked like she was having an internal debate with herself. Should she go get the one weapon she brought or tell her son she had nothing. As if reading her face, Danny locked eyes with his conflicted mother.

"Come on, Mom, I won't tell Jazz, but you must have something!" his voice sounded urgent, but Maddie was still trying to decide what to do. She did need to stay on her son's good side, so she fetched the Fenton wrist ray from her bag, and aimed it between Wulf's paws. Immediately the handcuffs evaporated, and Wulf looked happily at his paws. He gave Maddie a big lick of gratitude, and turned to Danny before leaving. His eyes said everything: "Till next time, Friend."

…

Danny told his mother he needed to use the bathroom, but he really just needed to get away for a few moments and think. He needed a strategy for the next few days. He needed a way to get out of his mother's grip incase that scientist came back. He needed to get the scientist before he disappeared... again. He needed to figure out how he was going to be able to go ghost quick enough and fly to wherever he was without letting his mother see him or letting the ghost fly away. He needed a miracle.

…

Gleaming red eyes peered through lab goggles, as Professor WinCorpse stared from the mountaintop. This ghost boy was tougher than he'd ever dreamed him to be. The perfect thing to experiment on! Though he had always believed the rumors when his fellow ghosts told him of a notorious half boy-half ghost, he never once dreamed of seeing it with his own eyes. How marvelous!

The ghost boy, though very powerful and resourceful, had many great powers. Just by studying him for two weeks, he was able to get a remarkable insight into most - if not all - of his powers, and he was, in short, impressed. He had the ability to freeze objects, and shoot icy frost from his fingertips. Though he had not witnessed it yet, he heard of his famous "Ghostly Wail" that could clear an entire area of ghosts. The Professor could only dream of being able to contain such power. But soon that dream would be become a reality, and the ghostboy had one major downfall.

He would do anything to make sure no one knew his secret.

…

When Danny walked back to their campsite, he found his mother laying on the ground staring at the night sky. He smiled gently, and walked over next to her.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked her. Maddie smiled back at him, and nodded encouragingly.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, as he laid down next to her.

Maddie sighed before responding. "I'm not sure," she lied, not wanting to ask Danny about his secret yet. She knew she needed to, but... No. She had to, and now was as good as a time as any.

"Actually, Danny, I have a question for you," she began. Danny muttered, "Hm-mh," so Maddie continued. She took a deep breath, and worded this very carefully. "You know that no matter what, I'll always love and accept you right?"

Danny was caught off guard. Did his mother know something? Was this her way of being subtle in asking him to tell? Did she already know the whole story like Jazz, but was waiting for him to open up? A thousand more question raged through Danny's mind.

Danny's silence only kept Maddie even more on edge. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. Maybe it was the wrong time.

Danny took a deep breath, and told his mother, "Of course. You're my mom. I know you'll always be there for me." Danny smiled, happy at his words, and Maddie did, too, but in the inside, her heart fell apart.

He had just lied to her. There was something he felt she wouldn't understand, but she was going to get Danny to open up, even if it killed her.

Maddie sat up, and crawled into the tent Danny had set up to drift to sleep. Danny followed her a few moments after she'd fallen asleep, and he awkwardly tried to go to drift off. Guilt, however, kept his mind awake, and he was sickened by the fact that he had just lied to the person sleeping next to him, because the truth was; Danny had no idea if his mother could love and accept him through this. Still, she had helped Wulf. Maybe he should give her a chance...

…

When Danny crawled from the tent, he noticed his mother already had a fire going, and was boiling water for their morning instant oatmeal. She lifted her head from her concentrated cooking in time to see Danny slowly protrude from the fabric shelter.

"Good morning, Danny," she called in a singsong voice. Danny had finally gotten all the way out of the tent's threshold, and stood to stretch his back. Sleeping on the ground can do you in; even if you're a 15 year old!

Danny walked over to his mother and the camp fire, and yawned, "Morning."

Maddie ostentatiously invited Danny to choose between the contents of her left and right hand.

"Okay, Sweetums, do you want Apples & Cinnamon or Brown Sugar & Maple Syrup?"

Danny lazily pointed to her right hand, and Maddie poured hot water and the Apples & Cinnamon oatmeal into his bowl. She chose the latter, and they both dug into their servings of breakfast.

Danny had to sit his bowl on his lap and use his right hand only to eat because of his currently crippled left hand. He knew that if he could go ghost for just an hour, it would be all healed, but that would be risky…

Danny's anticipations were proven true when a jolt of pain ignited his wrist. He already knew why. When your bone is sprained or broken, and your body's cells are fixing it, it can sometimes stimulate nociceptors, which is a pain-stimulation. Though he'd never broken any bones before, he knew this because science was always his favorite subject. Though he preferred astro-science, personally.

Still, Danny couldn't take the aches anymore, especially with no painkillers available. He made the executive decision to go ghost for 10 minutes at a time, 6 times throughout the day. That should be doable.

…

"Danny!" his mother called to him. He was sitting quietly under the shade of a tree, thinking to himself. Maddie woke him from his daydream, however, so he turned his full attention to the brown, bobbed woman. "Hm-mh?" he muttered.

"I was curious if you'd want to go for a walk with me? It's so nice out here, and I just wanted to know if you'd like to go exploring!" She sounded excited, and for a moment he was, too. Then he remembered his wrist. He needed it to heal, and his mother leaving for a while would be the perfect excuse to stay ghost for at least ten minutes. He stared shyly at the ground, and begrudgingly told his mother, "I'm okay, actually. My wrist is really bugging me, and I'm not much in the mood for walking."

Maddie was suddenly concerned. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No!" Danny blurted, then corrected himself. "I mean... er, no, that's okay. I don't want you to cancel your plans for me. Please, you go on ahead. I'll just stay here... and sit... under this tree."

His mother looked shocked and sad at the same time. "Well if that's what you want... I'll be back soon. Try to stay out of trouble," she tried joking around, but they both knew how hurt she really was. And it pained Danny to know he'd put her through that pain.

Maddie turned on her heels, and walked into the dense forest. "I'm sorry," he muttered after her, once out of earshot. He really was.

After a minute or two, Danny decided she was far enough into the forest that he could phase, and go find a hiding spot it stay ghost for a while. He did a panoramic scan, and quickly phased, the blinding pure energy giving him the strength to go on.

He knew he was now a ghost. Not only did his eyes ignite from green ectoplasm and his wispy hair fly in his face, but his wrist was suddenly no longer in pain. He took off the protective binding, and immediately felt the ectoplasm coursing through his veins flood into the affected area. He would be healed in no time. However, the healing process would quicken if he was staying still. Then again, he couldn't stay under the tree, in fear of his mother unexpectedly returning.

He looked around, but finally chose the upward region to fly towards. He prepared himself for the lift off, and accelerated off the ground. He went intangible and continued his flight until he was above the canopy of the forest. He appeared visible again, and did a 360 scan. He needed to find a spot to sit on for the few minutes his mother would be gone, but somewhere that he could keep an eye on his mom.

His intangibility returned, and he slipped into the thick leaves to search for his mother. Luckily, he found her quickly, and nestled in a nook of a tree to keep an eye on her and the campsite.

Even though he felt terrible for refusing his mom's offer, he had to do this. He had to stay his ghostly half for as long as it took for his arm to heal. He couldn't live with his wrist not being able to sustain any weight.

Looking at the more positive side, however, he noticed how nice the entire world looked from a bird's point of view. He could see for a mile out, and beyond that was still beautiful. He rested his arms behind his back, and laid against the trunk of the top of the tree, and smiled at the sky. Being a ghost could have some advantages.

Luckily for him, Maddie stayed on her walk for an entire hour. He didn't even need to do the intervals. And though she was out of sight, she was definitely not out of mind. It was all Danny could think about for the hour she was gone: whether or not he should tell her about Danny Phantom. He knew that she deserved to know, but he couldn't bring himself to "do the deed," and come clean on his own. Danny decided that if she brought it up, he would tell her. Scared of the chances she might know something already, Danny almost went back on his deal with himself immediately. Then he reasoned that it would be up to the universe to decide whether or not she should know.

Danny flew back down and returned to his and his mother's landing and phased back to his Fenton side. He rewrapped the wrist bandage, even though it no longer pained him, and returned to sit under the tree just in time to see his mother emerge from the forest.

Maddie smiled at Danny when she got back, but didn't say a word. Danny wondered if his refusal hurt his mom more than he knew.

…

While Maddie was fixing dinner, Danny decided to set up the tarp on the tent. His mother quietly agreed with him that the skies revealed the possibility of rain, so they both thought it best that they be prepared.

With dinner fully prepared and the tarp on top the tent, Danny and Maddie helped themselves to a bowl of macaroni and cheese. Maddie stared at her feet the entire time, and did not say a word. It wasn't until Danny had almost finished his bowl that he realized he needed to break the silence.

"Mom..." he began, his voice sounding weak. "Mom," he restated, stronger. "Are... are you okay?"

Maddie swallowed her last spoonful before wordlessly nodding her head. Danny was about to push further, and say how serious he was, but Maddie pounced up from the ground across from Danny, and went to sit next to him.

"Actually... no I'm not," she admitted. Danny looked at her, his eyes wide with concern. "What's wrong?"

Maddie took a deep breath. This was it; her moment of truth. "Well, Danny, it's you, really?"

Danny was shocked by his mother's words, but they didn't sound mean or purposefully offensive; just sad and hurt.

Maddie continued, "I know that babies grow up, Danny. I know that you're fifteen, and you don't need my help - or want it for that matter. I even know that teenagers keep secrets and hide things from their parents. It's... it's a part of growing up, and I understand that. Or, at least, I thought I did."

She paused, trying to find the right words. "Danny," she restarted. "I want you, more than anything in the world, to know that I will always accept you. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't?"

Danny hung his head, and, for some reason, couldn't look his mother in the eye. He wanted to think she was right, but at the same point in time, she didn't know his secret.

"Danny," she began again, since she figured Danny's silence granted her the honor. She opened her mouth a few times before responding. She had to word this perfectly. "I know that... I know that you have been keeping secrets and telling lies. I've known forever. And I always said that you would grow out of it. You started acting funny and distant when you began high school. I guess I was just shocked because your sister never went through that phase. Then when your sister started telling lies, too, I just... I just sort of lost it. This whole vacation, that has been the only thing I can think about. It terrifies me, Danny."

She placed one hand on Danny's right knee, causing him to lift his head and look her dead in the eyes. "You can tell me anything," she assured. Danny immediately broke eye contact, and stared back at the ground. This was his chance. His moment of truth. He would either lie one last time and further shatter his mother's heart, or he could come clean and accept her resentment.

Danny remembered the promise he made to himself. Then, within the moment of a heartbeat, he made what could be the biggest mistake of his life.

It's now or never, he decided, and continued facing the ground. He inhaled, but never looked his mother in the eyes.

"You're right," he muttered. Unsure whether or not she heard, he said, with a little more force, "You're right. I have been keeping secrets. Well _secret,_ anyway. It's only one, really." He gulped, and prepared himself for the worst.

Sensing his discomfort, Maddie removed her hand from his knee, and inched farther away to give him space. She noticed him not wanting to look at her, so she turned her head towards the starry night sky, instead.

Oh no, he mumbled to himself when he felt a cold bubbly feeling come from his throat. It sneaked its way up his larynx, and finally escaped past his soft lips, leaving its icy kiss upon them.

What could he do? He knew if he left now, his mother would not only be further crushed, but he'd never work up the courage to do this again. Danny figured it was only the scientist ghost again, so he kept focusing on how to tell his mother the truth. Words or actions? What would be more of an explanation. Should he explain before or after?

"It all started back around this time in ninth grade. I-"

"A ghost!" his mother shrieked, cutting him off.

Maddie pointed into the black sky at a green ghost flying above. Danny followed her finger, and saw the mad lab ghost flying yet again over head, except this time, it would appear Danny had a chance. He wasn't disappearing.

Maddie grabbed Danny's left wrist, which was no longer in pain, and said, urgently, "Stay close to me. This could get ugly."

Now Danny really needed to think. The only weapon his mother had was one wrist ray. She could never protect her self with only that. It was time for Danny to decide which he feared more: his mother's resentment and hatred or losing her forever.

Maddie left to find shelter, but stopped when she noticed Danny did not move. She gave one glance at her son, and realized the ghost interrupted his meaningful talk. He was about to open up to her, and the darn ghost got in the way.

Danny was staring hard at the ground. He had to think on his feet a lot, but decisions had ever been this big. His eyes remained down even when his mother lay a caring hand on his shoulder, and told him, "We can finish this conversation later, Sweetie."

Danny inhaled. "No," he demanded. "It can't wait, Mom."

Maddie was at a loss. The only thing she could think as a compromise would be to shuttle them both off to shelter, but then the ghost would be running around, and cause more danger. She needed to snip this in the bud. She was about to order Danny to get out of the way, but he spoke before her.

Standing up, and facing his back to her, he restated, "You were right." He paused, his hands shaking with nerves. "You were right, okay? I... I'm not the kid you think I am, Mom. I've lied, I've kept secrets, and..." he stopped short, unsure whether to reveal this or not. Then he realized it didn't matter. He was officially going to stop keeping secrets. "And Jazz has been covering for me." If Maddie was shocked, she wasn't giving it away verbally. "The reason this can't wait, Mom, is because _you_ don't need to fight this ghost," he said, much more confidently, much to his mother's confusion.

"I do."

Danny turned to face his mother straight through her eyes before shutting his tightly, and shooting both hands up into the air. "I'm going ghost!" he shouted. It seemed like forever since he'd been able to do this at full volume.

Immediately a hot-white light appeared around his lower abdomen, and it hovered there for a moment. Soon the beam split into two circles, and they began to encase opposite ends of his body at the same time. The upper energy ring stretched over his white shirt, changing his red dot into the traditional "DP" emblem. It traveled around his neck to complete the white finishing of his black jumpsuit. It went over his chin and to his nose, changing his pasty skin to an olive glow. The light journeyed over the top of his head, morphing his dense, coal-like hair into fine, blanched fibers. The circlet moved up his extended arms, passed his elbow, and began his white gloves in the middle of his forearm. The beam finished past his clenched fist, and evaporated once no longer connected to the metamorphosing boy.

The lower hoop, on the other hand, voyaged down his waist, adding an ivory belt in this ebony jumpsuit. His regular jeans altered into that of the lower half of his spandex suit. When the bright glow of the halo reached his mid calf, white boots suddenly appeared, and the ring went past the forest floor, underneath the crust of the earth.

Once Danny was fully transformed, he opened his eyes and heard his mother gasp at their ectoplasmic color. He locked eyes with her before pushing off his booted feet, and missile off towards the pitch-black sky, in search for the mad scientist.

* * *

**Finished? Are you sure you read all 6,033 words? That quick? You clearly need to revisit the chapter :P**

**Haha, anywho, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I'm thinking this FanFic may come to 14 or 15 chapters, so it is slowly coming to an end :(**

**Wait! Don't cry! Save your tears for the last chapter. Luckily for you, this wasn't it**

**As usual, I have to send a shoutout to all of my wonderful reviewers. You guys are awesome! To those who aren't reviewing... start to. I just wrote you over 6,000 words, I think I deserve it :P**

**See you next time! I'll try to post the next chapter ASAP! I'm sure you're all dying to know what's gonna happen :D**


	12. Jazz's Compromise

"Jack, Sweetie," Maddie nudged her large husband awake. He groaned a little, but was soon aware of his senses, and realized that today he was going camping. Just in case he had forgotten, Maddie whispered in his ear, "Come one get up. You and Jazz have to leave soon." Even still at the mention of this, Jack sighed and groaned louder. Maddie pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips. "Jack Fenton you are going to be in a good mood this trip, and you are going to be freespirited and enjoy it, or so help me God when you get back, you will regret the day you were born." Jack's eyes shot open, and he was at once standing on his feet next to the bed. He knew his wife well enough to know that she never kidded about this kind of thing.

"Good," she smiled, suddenly enthusiastic. "Now, I've already packed your sack for you. There's meal supplies some pots and pans, and a flashlight, just in case you can't figure out a fire. Remember to stay safe and aware, and I will see you in three day! Oh and there's some oatmeal on the pit if you and Jazz are hungry."

Jack watched as Maddie exited their bedroom in a sort of skip-like way. As soon as he heard the door to the cabin shut, he slumped his shoulders, and begrudgingly left the cabin to fix himself some oatmeal. Just the thought of oatmeal disgusted him, but he was so hungry and not ready for the three next torturous days that he stepped outside and helped himself to not, but two bowls of the slop.

…

"Jazz," Danny called once he entered the cabin to grab his things. "You have to get up. Camping day, remember?" Danny heard Jazz groan from under the covers, and she lazily kicked herself out of bed. Once she was standing upright and thoroughly stretched, she lamented, "How come _you_ get Mom? She's like the female version of SurvivorMan! Dad can hardly survive a day by himself back at Fenton Works."

Danny laughed a little, but had to admit that Jazz did have a point. He knew his mom would take care of them and be able to light fire, set up a tent, cook, etc, but that was more than he could say for his father. He reached into his sack, and handed Jazz a skull-engraved lighter. "Here," he offered it out to her. "Take it. You're right. Mom can take care of me, but you and Dad will be pretty helpless if you can't light a fire." Jazz looked quizzically at Danny. "How did you come across this lighter?"

Danny chuckled at his sister's skepticism. "Relax," he paused to laugh. "Let's just say it was a friendly gift from our good friend, Skulker."

Jazz laughed with him, and smiled her appreciation, taking it from his hands. He nodded his welcome, and turned to leave. He stopped at the threshold of the kitchen and their bedroom, and turned around to say one more thing to his sister. "Oh, and Jazz?" he added. "Please don't stick up for me."

Jazz blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I appreciate all you do, Jazz. It's really nice that you try to tell Mom and Dad that Danny Phantom is actually on _their_ side, but it's just not worth it. Don't spoil your trip with Dad just for me."

Jazz's expression softened, and she walked up to her little brother. "Danny, I don't stick up for you _for you._ I do it for me, really. I hate the fact that Dad and Mom view you as a monster. It breaks my heart."

"Well, forget about it. It's not worth it, Jazz. Nothing's ever gonna change them… anyways, I'll see you in a few days." Jazz nodded, and he left the cabin in a defeated way, and turned around to tackle one of her own problems.

She really had not expected her parents to agree no ghost objects, so she was expecting not to go, but they surprised her, so here she was: lacing up her muddy sneakers she hardly ever wore, and getting ready to go camping with her obnoxious father. What could be more fun?

Still, she had to keep an open mind. Maybe her father would surprise her.

…

When Jazz finally did leave the cabin, her father was sitting on the logs around their campfire, huddled over a bowl of oatmeal. She went up to him, and sat next to him. "I thought you didn't like oatmeal," she asked lightly with a smile. "I don't," Jack groaned as he helped himself to another bowl. Jazz didn't push any further, as he appeared a little on edge. She looked at the bowl of sludge her father was eating, but decided against it. Her appetite was quite small, and she honestly wasn't hungry enough for eating anything that looked like the color of dead skin.

Soon, he finished his breakfast, and Jack and Jazz were off. They traveled through the dense trees for what Jazz guessed was two hours. She trudged along behind her dad, but soon realized that he had absolutely no idea where he was going, as she was quite sure they passed the same exact tree three times.

"Dad," she worked up the nerve to ask. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Of course I do!" Jack argued loudly. Jazz rolled her eyes, and didn't say another word, until she heard her stomach growl very loudly, which occurred maybe an hour later. Jazz didn't really have a watch, so she had no idea of the actually time. However, she knew it was after noon because the sun was just a little to the west. She made a mental note to thank her geography teacher for that.

"Dad," she stopped walking. "Do you think we can sit, and have lunch now?" Jack brought a hand up to his stomach, and felt it rumble. Without words, he sat down, and threw his sack in front of him. He opened it up, and rummaged through it, trying to see what Maddie had packed for the two of them. Finally he grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of white bread from the bottom of the sack, and he realized that this must have been planned for lunch. He served himself first, then handed the jar and bread to Jazz so she could fix some for herself. She lathered her bread, and sandwiched the peanut butter between two halves of the same piece, and bit in. The creamy smoothness of the peanut butter was perfect to curb her hunger.

They ate in silence for the entirety of lunch, and only when Jack had finally finished his second sandwich had they packed up, and began moving again. The sun was almost all the way to western horizon, indicating that sunset was an hour or two away, so Jazz stopped her father. "Dad, the sun is setting. We need to stop, and set up camp while we still have light to work with."

"Psht," he rolled his eyes. "We have all the light in the world – and without a fire!"

Jack pulled out an enormous chrome flashlight. "Who needs to burn trees when you have the Fenton Flashlight!" he exclaimed.

Jazz crossed her arms, her disappointment evident on her face. "What did I say, Dad?"

Jack realized his mistake immediately, and tried recovering by saying, "Your mother cheated, too! I saw her snag a Fenton wrist ray into her sack!"

Jazz froze with freight. _Danny_, she whispered. Was he okay? She couldn't believe her mom did this.

Jack, not noticing his daughter's worry, continued, "Besides this is really just a flashlight with the word Fenton stamped on it. She brought a weapon." He decided not to mention Maddie had stored the other wrist ray in his pack. It seemed like a bad idea.

The words Jack had just spoken were like a punch to the gut for Jazz. Here she was, believing her brother was perfectly safe when in reality, he could be in more danger than she was. She could only hope that Danny wouldn't do anything stupid this trip because if he did and was hurt… Jazz didn't know what she would do.

Soon Jazz was forced to snap out of her horrific daydream because she realized they were quickly running out of daylight – even with the "Fenton flashlight."

She emptied her bag containing the tent, and began to work it out by staking one corner to the ground, but realizing it was the wrong corner, she had to take it out. This process repeated for ten minutes until Jack finally sat down, and help her. Though she was thankful for the gesture, he was just as clueless as she.

"Dad, I'm telling you the stake goes on this end," Jazz tried to reason with her idiotic father. They had been trying to set up their tent for half an hour now, and were still at the first stage of a crumpled lump of cloth and a few scattered stakes. "Nonsense, Jazz, it clearly goes inside this marked hole," he argued.

"That's not a _marked_ hole; it's just a hole, hole!"

They both silently worked alone on opposite ends of the tent. Jazz and Jack were focused intently on their corner, and both of them refused to help the other and actually cooperate. When Jack finally lifted his head, he noticed the orangey hues in the purple sky. "Great," he sighed. "It's sunset and we don't have anything to sleep in."

Jazz followed her father's gaze and realized he was actually right. She cursed herself under her breath, but thought of a quick solution.

"Since the tent is never going to work out, how about we just collect firewood to burn? We can, I don't know… sleep under the stars or whatever," she offered. Jack seemed up for the idea of sleeping out in the open, so they both search around their small, densely packed campsite for small branches that had fallen from the hundreds of trees they were surrounded by. Luckily, there were a bunch, so they were able to complete their search before the sun went down.

They stared at their pile of twigs, and thought hard for a moment. Neither of them were sure how to light the fire. "Now what?" Jazz asked, turning to her father's assistance. "Why don't you ask your good ghost friend," Jack mumbled, not intending for Jazz to hear it. One glance at her angered expression though, and Jack knew she had. He let it roll off his back and began thinking of a solution.

Still, the ugly comment reminded Jazz of the gift Danny had given her. "I have a lighter," she exclaimed, and pulled it from her bag. Lucky for Jazz, Jack did not think or question why his 17 year old daughter would have a lighter, so she simple went along with his ignorance, and lit a stick, then threw the enkindled twig onto the large pile.

The sky was almost dark, at that awkward moment were the sunset had already passed, but it was still offering faint light from the distant horizon. In other words, Jazz presumed it was eight o'clock. Reminding herself of such, she realized how hungry she was. "So, er, what's for dinner?"

Jack froze. Dinner? He had completely forgotten about dinner. He searched his sack for something to eat, and was over ushed with joy. Good old Maddie! She was so thoughtful. Jack grabbed the box of penne pasta, and a jar of processed marinara sauce. He stared at the contents of his hands, and blanked. How was he supposed to make this out in the middle of the woods? He wished he had his Fenton RV right now…

Still, Maddie had proven herself once, maybe she'd put a list of what to do. He searched his Fenton sack, and only found more food and a small pot. He could hardly cook pasta at home. How was he supposed to do it now?

Jazz sensed her father's confusion, and grabbed the pot from his hands. She poured a small amount of water from her bottle into the pot, and began to boil it. Once it had reached 100 degrees Celsius, Jazz added the pasta, and waited 10 minutes for that to soften. She drained the pasta by hiding the noodles back with a wooden spoon, and added the red sauce. She handed her father a bowl, and looked at him like he was hopeless. It was clearly not that hard. Jack snatched the bowl from his hands begrudgingly. He made it clear he was not thankful for the meal and was only eating it because it was the only option besides starving.

For the most part, they say quietly while they ate, but as Jazz was about to swallow her last mouthful, she set her bowl aside, and pursed her lips. Her father's horrible attitude had gotten the best of her, and she was furious.

"Dad, I'm so sick of this," she sighed.

Jack set his bowl aside as well and looked at his daughter. Though he knew exactly what she was talking about, he played dumb, and asked, "What are you sick of?" This only infuriated Jazz more, but she tried not to reveal it on her face. "This, Dad," she motioned between them with her hands. "Us."

She took a big breath, and continued. "Look, I'm sorry that the ghost kid saved us. I wish Danny and I had been able to fend for ourselves, but we couldn't. I know you don't like him, but what has he ever done to you?"

Jack's eyebrows furrowed, and he was getting very mad. "What has he done to me? He's a ghost. All ghosts are enemies, Jazz. He's a dangerous fiend."

Jazz held her stare, even though she wanted to look down. "What had he ever done to you?"

Jack was about to make a stab back, but she cut him short. "Personally. What has he done to you, personally?" This one took a moment for Jack to think of a good response. "He almost destroyed our house–"

"Don't you get it, Dad? He's just like you! He's a ghost _hunter_, not an evil ghost. He hunts all the other ghosts, too. What is so hard to understand about that?"

"They're the same species. They don't hate each other, it's all a show so that we humans will drop our guard, but _I_ see through it. I know they're only faking." Jazz could've punched him in the forehead. How could he be so foolish?

"Think about it, Dad. You only see him around another ghost. Doesn't that prove anything?"

"What about the last time we went camping, huh? It was just him hurling ectoplasm balls at the assault vehicle! What do you have to say to that?"

Jazz was about to retort the true explanation, but she stopped herself because she realized how stupid it sounded. Her father would never believe that it was a special kid-ghost called 'Youngblood,' and that only the young see him. Unfortunately, Jack took her pause to think she had no explanation, so he continued, "That's what I thought. What did I say? Evil."

Jazz stood up, and grabbed her pack. "Forget it, she muttered, and walked to sit 10 feet away from her dad. She laid out her sleeping bag, and crawled inside. It was still early in the night, but she didn't feel much like talking. She was just angry and nervous for Danny. Just how was he doing?

…

Finally, Jazz was able to fall asleep by shaking her head from worries of Danny, and resisting the urge to read _Wuthering_ _Heights_. Though her rest was much needed, it wasn't very constant. She woke up throughout the night, and had a pang in her gut that Danny was in trouble. This whole business of her mother bringing along a wrist ray had her on edge. She had to lull herself back to sleep with the happy memory of her mother specifically saying she'd never let anything hurt Danny. Including her.

…

The next morning, Jazz woke up when the sun literally hit her eyes. With no tent for shelter, the bright morning sky was blinding. When her eyes had finally adjusted, though, she sat up, and noticed her father was still asleep. She creeped over to his bag with the food, and grabbed a dry box of Fenton O's for breakfast. She inhaled it, and then drank the rest of her water bottle. She sat near her father's sleeping bag and the burnt-out fire place, and waited until her father had woken up to tell him the news.

When his eyes finally did flutter open, he smiled at Jazz, but remembered his anger with her, so he turned around onto his other side, and pretended to go back to sleep

"I know you're awake, Dad.," she sighed, but Jack remained silent. "Well, if you're not going to talk to me, you'll just have to listen.

"I know you don't like ghosts," she began. "And after a lot of thinking, I've made the decision that your right. Ghosts are evil. They can't be trusted, and that ghost boy didn't do much help anyways. I'm sorry for ever doubting you." It panged her to say it, but she finally realized that Danny was right. It was stupid to think that her opinion would ever change her father into something he wasn't. Jack immediately pounced up from the ground, and turned to face Jazz. "Really? You mean it?" He sounded very excited, so Jazz simply nodded and smiled. "Woo-hoo!" he exclaimed, and extended his right hand towards his daughter. "High-five!" he said happily.

Jazz smiled at her dad's cheesy 5th grader-like attitude, and slapped her palm against his, and widened her smile. Seeing her day's joyful face made Jazz even happier. Sometimes, she figured, it was better to swallow her own pride, and accept that she was wrong, even when she knew she was far beyond right. She was trying very hard to get along with her father, even though he wasn't reciprocating a compromise.

…

Once Jack had thoroughly eaten two boxes of Fenton O's and drank his cup of his signature Fenton Brew, Jazz helped him pack up their campsite, as they both decided that they should probably move on.

"So where are you thinking of for tonight?" Jack asked his daughter after walking for a bit downhill. Jazz considered her possibilities, though she did not really know this area very well. "Somewhere a little more open, so we don't have to sleep on roots tonight."

"I like the way you think!" Jack congratulated. "Then I guess we'll just keep walking until we come across one?" Though this seemed awful and tedious to Jazz, she could offer no suggestions, so she agreed that that was the best way to do things.

They had been walking for hours. Lunch had passed, they had stopped, and eaten, and now Jazz could not help but think about how much her feet were hurting, and how much she desperately wanted to just lay down and relax for a while. However, one quick look at the hundreds of protruding roots, and Jazz judged that they should just continue walking.

After another hour or so of walking, Jazz heard a distant rumbling in the distance, and looked up at the sky. It was going to rain… great. By the grayness in the sky it was not only going to rain, but it would be a full-out downpour of a thunderstorm; plus, she and her father could not set up the tent which meant they were not going to have any shelter against the heavy rain. The further Jazz looked up, she realized just how dark the clouds were making it look. Who knew how late it really was. The sky made it look like seven o'clock. In other words, sunset. This meant that they did not have long until darkness and rainfall was upon them, so Jazz knew she had to think of a quick solution. However, she figured that a little water wouldn't really kill her, so it wasn't a _huge_ deal; just a small annoyance that was getting in her way. She hoped her father knew what he was doing, though it looked like he hadn't even noticed the bad weather approaching.

"Dad," she called out to him, and stopped in her tracks. When he turned around, and looked quizzically at her, she pointed towards the dark sky to indicate the weather change. Jack looked upwards in the direction of her finger, and a wide smile grew onto his face. "Great job, Jazzy! See what's possible when you work _with _me, not against me? Let's follow him!" Jazz was beyond confused until she looked up where her finger was pointed and noticed a certain ghost boy flying around another greenish ghost in a lab coat. Her eyes widened in realization as she understood that her father was going chase down her brother, and that it was her fault. She sprinted after her father to try to stop him.

"Wait, Dad!" she tried to catch up to him. "I wasn't talking about the ghost! I was talking about the weather!"

"Then you killed two birds with one stone!" he shouted back to her.

Jazz pumped her arms faster as she evaded all the trees, but no matter how hard she tried, her father was just too fast. She was about to give up as she realized her father posed no real threat to Danny because he had no weapons.

Then, on cue, her father reached into his Fenton Sack, and pulled out a chrome-encased laser attached to a stretchy black rubber band. The Fenton wrist ray. She gasped in horror, and pushed a farther pursuit, knowing she had to stop him before he hurt Danny. Then, they thankfully came across an open plain that was entirely bare of any trees. She was thankful they would find a place to sleep, but suddenly realized that this meant Jack had a clear shot at Danny. He stopped, and aimed his wrist towards the apparition. Jazz knew she would only have one shot at this, so she took it and hoped for the best. She continued running at full speed, and rammed her body straight into her father's spine, making him lose balance. He quickly fell to the ground, and scratched his head, appearing confused.

"Jazz," he argued. "I had the perfect shot! I could have gotten him." He pointed behind him towards her brother, and she was about to apologize, and say how sorry she was for the clumsy mistake, but when she looked behind her dad at Danny, he was flying down in a haphazard manor. Soon, Jazz realized that he wasn't flying he was falling, and his body was aiming straight for the ground in front of them. "Yes!" Jack cheered, and reached to grab the wrist ray that laid on the ground after falling from his wrist, but Jazz grabbed it before him, and held it in her hand. "Shoot him, Jazz! Shoot the blood thirsty devil!"

Jazz knew she had to think on her feet of why she couldn't shoot, and why she couldn't give it to him to shoot, but she could never think of any quick excuses. Thankfully, she didn't have to because Jack suddenly lost interest with her as someone emerged through the thick trees, looking both confused and frightened.

"Maddie!" Jack exclaimed, and was about to run towards her, but he looked up, and saw the Phantom falling parallel to the ground. This was going to be his lucky day. He wouldn't have to waste any weapon fuel of his own, _and_ he got to capture the ghost kid!

Jazz was freaking out. Her brother was going to really hurt himself. He was hurdling towards the ground, and if that didn't kill him, both his parents were here to witness the fall, and collect his body to dissect. How could she save him? Was she supposed to blow his secret? She looked over at her excited father who was eagerly awaiting the downfall. If only he knew. She turned to the right, and saw her mother, wide-eyed in an unnamable expression. Fear, perhaps. Worry? Pain?

But then it hit her; the gut wrenching punch to the gut that made you want to hurl if the initial contact hadn't already done so. She almost choked on her own thoughts. There was only one explanation for her mother's face. _She knew_.

Jazz's mind went through a dozen questions in the span of a second of two. How did her mother find out? Had Danny told her? Did she see him phase? Did her worried expression mean she accepted him? Was she actually worried for the safety of her son or the intact remains of her arch foe? How long had she known? How did she react? What was she going to do about the truth? Did she know long before this trip? Did she know Jazz knew?

Then it was over. Danny hit the ground. His shoulder made contact first, and the rest of him slumped after in a bang. Her eyes watch in horror as she realized there was absolutely nothing she could do to help the white haired boy. He tried to get up using his good shoulder, but that one was just as weak, and his face slumped against the ground. He was in utter exhaustion and completely wiped out. A beam of pure energy formed in his abdomen, slowly transforming his entire body back into the awkward body of her fifteen year old brother. She raced to his side, and saw his mother standing next to her.

One lock of the eyes and nod of the head indicated they both knew that they both knew. They bent down, and tried to pull Danny up without affecting his shoulder, but failed multiple times. They looked at Jack who was standing where he first stood, as if his feet were glued to the ground, frozen. He was having an aftershock, and could not believe his eyes. He blinked himself back to reality, however, and raced over to cradle Danny like a baby against his chest.

The rain had begun to fall, and Jack, Maddie, and Jazz slowly walked back to the lodged campsite to get Danny to safety. Jazz kept looking up for the scientist ghost that he was fighting, but it was as if he was gone. Simply vanished, and left her brother for the dead.

Speaking of her brother, how were her parents going to react?

* * *

**Dun dun duuun!  
Danny's parents officially know! (Whaat?)  
I've already half-written the next chapter, and I must say: you should DEFINITELY be excited for it!  
**

**Oh and one more thing about wrapping up this little fanfic: I have officially mapped out the ending, and already know what is going to happen even if I haven't quite gotten to writing them, yet lol. There will be 15 chapters plus an epilogue, so 16 total chapters!**

**I'm sad to see this story approaching its end, but honestly... don't you want to know what's going to happen? :)**


	13. The Fight with Professor Wincorpse

**Alrighty – so just to clear the confusion before it starts, this chapter is in the PAST. It is what actually happened during Danny's fight with the scientist ghost. I really wanted to make that clear because I'm not sure if you can tell through context. Anyways, enjoy :)**

* * *

Danny's mind was having a literal meltdown. He had just told his mother – prestigious ghost-hunter, Maddie Fenton – about her only son being a fricking ghost kid! Then he left. He just up and flew away to fight this damn ghost that was getting under his skin. Speaking of which, where was he?

His instincts were telling him that he wouldn't fly away this time. There was something he wanted around here, but he wanted it without a fight, and something told Danny that he was done with being patient. His enhanced, ecto-green eyes scanned every branch of every tree within a mile. Though the last thing he wanted to do was come back empty handed, and have to explain why he had failed.

But that talk was just going to have to wait because Danny turned around just in time to see a glowing green slice in the sky, almost like a paper cut. As he creeped towards it, he saw a white-gloved hand emerged through it, causing Danny to jump back in alarm. He quickly got control of himself, and his actions, however, and he began to fly closer to it. Suddenly a black booted foot stepped out, and before Danny knew it, the odd scientist ghost was fully emerged from the greenish portal, which was now fading.

"So that's where you keep disappearing to," Danny guessed, coldly. His voice shocked the ghost, who hadn't noticed him, yet. Though he was caught off guard, he quickly controlled himself again, and smiled, menacingly. "Ah, Daniel Phantom. You're doing well, I presume."

"I already know who and how I am. Your turn. Who are you, and what do you want with me and my family? Why did you send us here?" His eyes narrowed in dislike, but the scientist continued smiling, untouched by his harsh words.

"I think you'll find out soon enough-" he began as he scraped his fingers along the sky, and another slit opened up. However, he was never able to slide back through because Danny grabbed him by the neck, and pushed him up against a nearby tree. "I'd prefer now, thanks," he smiled, knowing he had the control. The ghost's expression faltered for a moment, showing obvious disdain, but returned to his sickly sweet smile. "Have it your way, Phantom. I am Professor WinCorpse, and - oh it seems I've forgotten your other questions. Could you remind me?"

Danny tightened his grip and asked fiercely, "What did you do back there? With the sky?"

The professor smiled. "Ah, yes, that. You see, my boy, I am an inventor; therefore, I invent things. For example, this gel I have on my fingernails," he held up line-colored fingers that appeared to glow in the dark, "allows me to cut openings between worlds and dimensions; quite a useful trick for needing a quick escape." He smiled at the end, all too knowingly.

"So that's where you've been going off to?" Danny asked, remembering the times he'd follow him, just to be confronted by confusion. The professor's smile never faded, and remained still and silent. Danny took this as a sign to continue his inquiry. "Just what is it you want with my family?"

The professor laughed heartlessly. "Oh , you foolish boy, I want nothing with your family. It is _you_, I desire," he glared. Danny's eyes narrowed and he push harder against the ghost's jugular, knowing perfectly well that he could not kill his lifeless state. "Fine. What do you want with me?"

"I think you're confused," the professor began. "You see I don't want anything _with_ you. I just want you. I want to study and observe you. Cut you open as a human then tape you back up and do the same when you're ghost! I want to learn from you!" Danny was thoroughly disgusted, and loosened his grip slightly. "So you planned this entire trip for my family just to capture me? Couldn't you do that back in Amity Park?"

"Please, as if I'm going to get my hands dirty with capturing you. I thought it would be much more fun to simply watch from a distance as your parents capture you, wouldn't you think?"

"Er, no." Danny faltered his grip enough to allow the ghost to escape his grasp. He flew, remarkably fast, to the middle of an area with no trees for at least 20 feet all the way around, and slice a cut into the sky.

"This talk was really very fun, Phantom, but I'm afraid I must go prepare your lab table. See, I want it to be made of something as valuable as you. Pure silver perhaps." He laughed wickedly, and disappeared behind the sky.

Danny accelerated towards the hole, but when he had finally reached it, it was closed off, and replaced with something hard, like steal. Unfortunately, Danny didn't realize this until his head had already hit it.

Then he was falling.

Down

Down

Down towards the grassy plane underneath him. The worst part was, he wasn't unconscious. He was completely aware he was plummeting to his death, and yet, he could not will his body to go intangible. The hit had really wiped him out, and he was too tired to do anything about falling 20 ft from the sky.

All he could do was wait and watch as the green ground got closer and closer and closer, until… finally it hit him.

He busted his shoulder on the ground, and he normally would have gasped in pain, but the wave of exhaustion over conquered him. He tried to get up, but just slammed against the cold ground again. He felt cool rain drops falling on his bloody face, and opened his eyes just in time to see his mother running to his side.

Then, the world went dark.

* * *

**WANTED:**

**all reviewers  
****dead or alive  
****just needed to say thanks!**

**well that was my little attempt at being funny... looks like it was a bust**

**Lol anyways the point of that pathetic joke was to offer another shout out to my amazing reviewers! I actually love getting them everyday. Every single last one, no matter how short, makes me smile (and don't you want to see me smile?) :D**

**One last thing before I let you leave my new chapter (leave, what? you are actually staying here forever, and staring at the screen until you get the update that there's a new chapter), I just wanted to put another poll out there:**

**So I know that all of my readers are Danny Phantom fans (I hope, anyways, otherwise you might be in the wrong fandom), but I was just curious if anyone was interested in Kim Possible? I really want to make a Danny Phantom and Kim Possible crossover, and have a really awesome idea, and everything, but there is only 20 or so stories in that category, so I haven't decided on it...**

**Anyways let me know if that sounds interesting!**


	14. Explanations

Danny woke up to the sound of his heart thumping. The usual rhythmic beat had undergone a sort of change as it was now beating remarkably fast and loud. Although he was completely aware and awake, he did not open his eyes. His own fear had gotten the better of him, and he was really terrified.

He did remember what happened with the professor. The gist, anyways. They fought, he escaped, and Danny revealed himself to both his parents, who could've been holding a scapula over his stomach right now. Dear God was Danny freaking out.

Still, he had to remain calm. In the case that someone would be in there, Danny decided to keep his eyes closed until he was sure he was alone. He was still able to hear, and there was an obvious storm outside. A violent rumble of thunder clashed, and Danny had to try his hardest not to jump, in case someone was there, watching him.

He listened harder, and could hear, against the loud patter of rain against a metal-sounding roof, a whistle; sharp and high-pitched, yet constant and never ending, Danny immediately recognized it as a tea kettle whistle.

He sniffed, as well. Though his nose had never been very strong, he did smell something… very faint as it was, he could still just hardly recognize it. Almost like… perfume… deodorant, maybe?

There was just one more thing Danny had to do before he decided it would be safe open his eyes. He needed to know where he was. He grasped the velvet soft sheets of his bed, and—

Bed. That was what he was lying on. A comfortable bed that should not be located in the middle of the woods. What on Earth was going on? Where was he?

After a slight inward debate inside his head, Danny finally opened both eyes, and sat up. The blood, however, rushed to his head, and he was immediately extremely dizzy from it. He placed his hand to his eye, and tried to focus on not falling to the floor.

Once his vision regained him, and he was in control of himself, he looked around. He had absolutely no idea where he was, but the bed looked odd, and perhaps a little off.

Looking down at the sides of it, Danny noticed it was made out of a shiny metal, tin possibly. The soft sheets were plainly white, and the top cover was a dark green.

Danny looked around, but realized that he was completely lost. Where on earth was he? He looked down at his body to see what form his body was currently in, and he wasn't surprised to see his traditional red and white t-shirt. Often times, when he had passed out from exhaustion as a ghost, he woke up in his human form. The only explanation Danny could ever offer for this was that his initial, default body was human, so his unconscious always went to that one.

While looking at himself, he also noticed a shoulder sling for his left arm. A jolt of pain awakened his left clavicle, and he suddenly remembered everything from the night before. The fuzzy details were crystal clear. It was as if he was reliving it.

He put a hand on his head, and tried to control his heavy breathing. The shock had hit him. Hard.

He hasn't just fallen. He didn't just get hurt. It was worse than that, and that really scared Danny.

He was about to dwell on the idea, but the door of the small, quaint room he was in busted open, and the first thing Danny saw was a lock of ginger hair.

His sister, Jasmine, came inside the small room holding a metal tray with a small glass mug sitting on top.

"Danny!" Jazz heard herself exclaim before she could control her shock. She quickly set the tray aside, and ran to her brother. She gave him a quick, but meaningful hug, and looked in his ocean blue eyes. "How are you?" She asked, her own blue eyes wide with concern.

Danny smiled back, and tried his best to make sure she didn't worry. "I'm fine. Doing great," he lied. Jazz stared knowingly, so he acquiesced slightly. "Okay, my shoulder hurts, but what can you do, right?"

Jazz seemed to have bought this one, so he decided to drop the topic. "How long was I out?" He asked, a little scared of the answer.

Jazz hesitated before answering, "Not too long actually, considering… Only a few hours. It's about 6 am."

Danny ignored her comment about how badly he was injured, and asked her, "Then why are you awake?" She smiled, appreciatively, and admitted, "I guess I was just too worried to sleep."

Danny asked another question that had been bugging him. "And where exactly are we?"

"_You're_ in the Fenton RV. Mom and Dad are sleeping out in the actually seats of the vehicle, but I haven't been able to relax, yet, so I've just been sitting in here."

"Speaking of them, how are mom and dad doing? You know, about..."

He didn't need to say it. Jazz already knew exactly what he meant.

"Much better than you'd feared," her voice was soft and gentle. It calmed Danny's nerves.

"And why are we not back at the campsite?"

"I told Mom and Dad how you though this whole trip was planned by an evil ghost, and they got out of there before I could even express all my theories.

"Needless to say, they took the RV, packed just a few things, and came to this open spot until you woke up. I think they were gonna decide the next step once the first was completed."

Danny nodded his understanding, but was still confused. Why hadn't they just packed up and left for Amity Park?

He wasn't allowed to dwell on this question because Jazz suddenly grabbed the metal tray she had been holding, and offered Danny a cup of tea. "Here," she held her hand out. Danny had never been much of a tea drinker, but he had to admit that Jazz definitely knew what she was doing. "This tea relieves your nerves. It'll help till Mom and Dad wake up."

Danny was about to express his thanks, but he heard a loud crash come from the other side of the door, and hushed whispers.

"Shush Jack; we don't want to wake Danny!"

"I'm not being loud on purpose."

Jazz looked over at her brother, and could tell that his fingers were white-knuckled clenched on the hot cup. He was holding his breath in fear of making a noise that let them know he was awake, but Jazz took care of that for him.

"It's now or never," she explained. "Mom, Dad!" she called towards the closed door.

Danny's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets when she opened her mouth, but he never had time to reveal his anger because Maddie Fenton peaked her head into the room.

Tears immediately filled her blue eyes, and she clutched her heart. "Danny."

Jack Fenton appeared behind her, but he tensed up. He looked very uncomfortable. Almost as if he had been postponing this conversation, too.

"Hi, Mom. Dad," Danny tried to smile.

Jack stayed leaned against the door, but Maddie ran to her son's side, and tried to make him feel comfortable. She gave him a bear hug, being careful not to squeeze his arm too hard, and began to brush his thick hair from his face.

"Danny," she smiled under her breath, not even sure if he heard her.

Normally, his mother's smile would cheer him up, but Maddie's smile wasn't one to be happy with. It was depressing. Empathetic. Worrisome. Sad. Thankful. But not genuinely happy.

This irked Danny, but what could he do about it?

"Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" she asked sincerely.

"No." he answered shortly. Maddie smiled, and they sat in an awkward silence for a while with none of the four of them even attempting or thinking about breaking it.

Finally, Danny knew that this didn't need to last any longer.

"Alight let's just cut to the chase," he managed to spit out.

Maddie's confused face gave way to how she felt. Jack was hardly showing any emotion, and Jazz knew that this was coming. Danny, however, didn't even break for long enough for questions, like "Cut to what chase?" to come up.

Danny took a deep breath, and he knew that he needed to say this. He breathed slowly, keeping his heart rate down, and counted to three.

_1_

Maybe he shouldn't be doing this. What was he thinking? His parents would most likely never bring it up, and then they would never have to have this talk.

_2_

On the other hand, it will feel better once it is off his chest. He should do it. He has to do it.

_3_

Here goes nothing.

"I'm half ghost," he blurted before sense got the better of him. Maddie's eyes widened, though she tried to hide it, Jack scratched his head funnily, and Jazz, wanting desperately to leave the room, but knowing she needed to support her brother, remained standing and stared at the floor.

Maddie was in a bit of shock by his bluntly chosen words, but nonetheless, waited for him to continue.

"There. I said it. I am Danny Phantom – notorious ghost-fighting kid that saves peoples' lives in Amity Park. Okay? That's me."

He had been right. It did feel good to get off his chest.

Maddie's voice cracked a bit, but she finally managed to croak, "H-how?"

Danny took a deep breath, and watched as his Dad moved over to sit on the metal flooring, and listen to the story. Danny tried to focus and tell the story that would make them blame themselves the least. After deciding it was no use and they would take it that way no matter what, he just told it how it happened.

"It was about the time that Dad had just finished building the portal _before_ it worked. Sam, Tucker, and I were looking at it, and playing around with the "ghost portal" that would, apparently, act as a gate between the two dimensions.

"Sam said it would be cool if I took a look inside, so I put on a white jumpsuit to protect my clothes from ectoplasm stains, and walked inside.

"First of all, the only light was coming from the rather dark lab, so I couldn't see well. It was a lot deeper than I'd thought. Soon, I got so far in that I couldn't see a difference when my eyes were closed versus open, so grabbed onto the wall so I wouldn't get lost. My hand must've hit a button or something because I was electrocuted.

"The next thing I know I woke up with white hair and green eyes, and a bunch of crazy ghost powers"

Danny had found it shocking that he had been able to get through the whole thing without an interruption, so he was now, of course, expecting the thousands of questions.

Maddie was the first ask. "I'm… I guess you could say I'm confused. How did going inside the ghost portal, er, change you?"

Danny waited a bit to answer. He was a bit caught off guard by it, and wasn't one hundred percent sure how to respond. "I'm not completely sure, but… well, my _theory_ is that I must've hit a switch or something on the wall. I think it was switched to off, which is why it didn't work with you guys, and then when I hit it, ghost ectoplasm basically infused with my blood."

Jack asked next. "How do you, er, 'go ghost'?"

Danny had been expecting this one. "Honestly, I just kind of think about it. This beam of the purest form of energy appears here," he pointed to his waist, and then continued. "It splits into two and spreads in both directions, covering my entire body."

"What kind of powers do you have?"

Danny sighed. This, though he knew someone would ask, was a pain to answer. "Well, at first, I couldn't do much. Just the basics, really. And I couldn't even control those. I could fly, go intangible, invisible, shoot ectoplasm from my hands – which is a lot harder than you'd think – over shadow things; nothing to really brag about. Then my powers started developing. I could bundle up an enormous amount of ecto-energy, and just… explode. I created a ghost shield around myself, and could even duplicate my body into multiple, functioning forms. _That_ one was really hard to get down.

"Soon I learned that I had this icy power within me. It would normally just come out when a ghost was nearby. I called it my 'ghost sense'." It was very helpful, but I soon learned it was more than that. I could control and manipulate ice. Shoot ice from my fingertips… it was amazing. And I, er, used it to ruin your machine…" he added awkwardly. "Anyways, I eventually came up with a 'ghostly wail', too, which I first did by accident while yelling at ghosts.

"I guess that basically sums up all my powers," he concluded.

Jack and Maddie were silent for a while, but of course that didn't last long.

"Why…" Maddie started, but her voice trailed off unwillingly, so she started again. "Why didn't you tell us? Why did you keep it a secret?"

Danny, though he expected this question as a possibility, was conflicted on how to answer it. He figured he'd done enough lying, so he just told the truth. "I guess I was scared…"

"Scared of what, Sweetie?"

"I was scared that you wouldn't accept me. That you'd be afraid of me, and want to rip the ghost out of me. I was scared that you wouldn't love me."

Maddie put one hand on his good shoulder, and smiled gently, conveying how much she really loved. And for the first time in two years, Danny knew she meant it completely.

A loud bang outside interrupted their touching moment and Danny heard a familiar voice shout in anger.

"Come on out, Phantom." And then the entire RV shook.

"What does this ghost-guy want with us?" his father asked, worried for his assault vehicle.

"His name is Professor WinCorpse," he began. "And he doesn't want anything with you. He just wants me. Something about dissecting and learning from me…"

Maddie gasped, but Danny's face remained solemn. The idea of being cut open had set in his mind, and he was no longer shocked.

"What do we do?"

Danny stared his father in the eyes, and told him how it was. "_You_ are not going to do anything. There is no way any of you guys are getting hurt because of me. I'll handle this."

He stood up to transform, but the blood rushed to his head, and he had to sit back down, clutching his forehead.

"You're too weak." Danny heard Jazz say, concerned. He knew she was right, but he couldn't let his family get hurt because he wasn't well enough to fight. He had to push through.

"I don't have a choice," Danny's anger flared at his sister.

Jazz took a step back, a bit caught off guard by his attitude. She still maintained a gentle voice, however. "Danny, you are in the room with two of the best ghost hunters in Amity Park. I think they can handle this guy."

"You don't understand!" Danny shouted, and stood up. Another bang shook the RV and Danny heard a muffled threat coming from outside.

"This guy, he isn't like other ghosts. He has no powers, but just invents a bunch of stuff. He can rip apart dimensions!"

He immediately went ghost, and ignored his parent's shocked looks. "I have to put him in his place." He was about to fly through the roof, but his shoulder began to feel prickly and an electric shock of pain coursed his body, so he had to clutch it, and shudder at the pain. This gave Jazz the opportunity to react and pushed him onto the bed so he could not fly through the wall. His wispy hair fell in his face from the shove, and before he could get up, his Mom and Dad were standing over him with a concerned look.

"We can handle him, Sweetie," Maddie tried to sympathize.

"You don't understand!" he begged. "He's dangerous. More dangerous than any other ghost I've ever fought! You can't fight him, not by yourselves."

"You can't either," Jack reasoned.

"I don't have a choice, Dad."

"Yes, you do," Jazz spoke up. "Danny, maybe you're right. Maybe Mom and Dad can't handle it, but neither can you. Not by yourself. You need Mom and Dad just as much as they need you to fight."

Judging by everyone's confused looks, Jazz explained further. "Danny might not be able to take him, and you two may not either, but _together –_ all four of us – imagine what we could do!"

Jack and Maddie's eyes lit up at the idea, as they'd always wanted a ghost-fighting family, but Danny's glare was dark. He was about to express his feelings, but another explosion shook the RV. "No way," he said, trying not to fall over from the earthquake-like shake.

Jazz walked over to him, and reasoned. "Danny, you have to face the facts. Look at you! You can hardly stand let alone fight. You can't do anything with your left arm, so we'll all fight him. It'll be four against one."

Danny had to give it to her that she was definitely right. Alone none of them would stand a chance. They had to come together and fight as a family.

"Fine," he finally complied, and realized his voice sounded harsh. He tried to lighten it by saying, airily, "Who knows? It may even be fun!"

Jack and Maddie smiled at this, and Jazz was proud of him to swallow his own pride and accept help from his family.

"Alright let's go. And make sure to stay behind me," he ordered.

Though no one had intentions of following this rule, they all three nodded, and they walked out of the bedroom of the RV, and prepared for the whistling wind and rain on the other side of the metal wall. Danny glanced behind him, and could not believe he was going to do this with his family. He clutched the handle, lifted it up, and pushed it open.


	15. A Well-Challenged Rematch

Danny was not expecting the Professor to be so close to the ground. It was almost as if he had known they would be coming out at that point.

"Phantom," WinCorpse teased. "You brought your family out. How sweet. Surrender now, and I won't hurt them."

Danny raised one finger as if to tell the Professor to give him a second. He immediately began to wheeze as if he had to sneeze.

"What will it be?" the ghost asked, not noticing his need to sneeze.

Danny inhaled loudly, and said, "Ahhhhhhh-chOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

His fake sneeze had just turned into his ghostly wail, and it flung the professor back at least fifty feet, giving his family time to jump out the RV without any threat.

"Nice one," Jazz congratulated.

"Thanks."

Soon, the ghost was back, and he was angrier than before. "Foolish boy. You will now feel my wrath!" The ghost hit the ground hard with his knuckles, and it seemed to ripple up like an unrolled carpet. Danny went flying backwards from the strength of it, and hit his head on a tree, knocking him out, stone cold.

Jazz and her parents watched in horror at his limp body, but she knew she knew she couldn't be paralyzed with fear like them, so she spoke up. "Excuse me, Doctor WetCorpse?"

All of his rage turned to the small red-headed girl as he rounded on her. "_Doctor? WetCorpse?_ I am PROFESSOR WINCORPSE!"

"Yeah, sure okay. I'll _totally_ remember that," Jazz said, rolling her eyes. "I mean maybe if you were an actual _ghost_ that – oh I don't know – _scared_ me!" The ghost clenched his teeth, and was infuriated with her.

"You will regret disrespecting me, Girl!" he shouted.

"Go ahead and kill me. At least I'll die knowing the definition of ghost changed," she jutted.

"You WILL fear me! Look at all I can do! What other ghost can rip through dimensions?" He sliced his fingers across the sky and the ghost zone appeared, like a wound, but was slowly mended back together. Jazz made sure to keep her face unimpressed and impartial.

"So you invented something to have a power that ghosts already has. Big deal; anyone can do that. I mean look at these two," she signaled at her parents. "By your definition, they're ghosts, too."

"I am an all-powerful ghost!" he fumed.

"No you're not, _Inventor_!" she fanned his flames.

"Just watch how much of a _ghost_ I really am!" WinCoprse reeled back, ready to strike Danny's older sister dead.

It was then that Danny's senses came back to him. Danny watched as the ghost was about to fire at his sister. He quickly got up, and began flying back to punch him. The professor never saw it coming, and he fell to the ground.

"NOW JAZZ!" Danny screamed.

She uncapped the thermos from behind her back as the ghost struggled to get back up. She tossed it to Danny in the air, since they both knew she never had much luck with it.

Danny pointed the thermos at the ghost, knowing that he'd only have one shot at this, as he was already back up, and flying towards his family. Immediately the "scary" ghost was trapped inside a sucking pull that was vacuuming him into the small chrome cylinder.

The professor realized what was happening all too late, and he tried to fight against the vacuum energy, but it wasn't working. He couldn't escape. The pull was too strong, and soon it engulfed him entirely, and he could no longer move. He was being sucked into the container with no help of ever escaping. Finally, it enclosed him inside, and Danny placed the cap back on top.

"All-powerful ghost, right?" Jazz snickered.

Danny laughed with her, and clutched his stomach because it hurt so bad. He quickly phased back to his human form, and a heavy weight immediately fell onto his shoulder with the blood now coursing inside him, but he knew that his parents were more comfortable around Danny Fenton, so he was okay with it hurting a bit.

"Nice one," Danny congratulated, repeating her words.

Jazz shrugged. "Anyone could tell that he had ghost envy. The trick was distracting him," she smiled.

"Speaking of which, what are we going to do with him? We can't very well release him back into the ghost zone. He'd just rip himself out again."

He turned to his parents for help, but Maddie looked just as confused as he was. His father, however, had an idea.

"Let's bury the thermos! He can't escape the thermos, and no one can accidently let him out if they can't find him!" Jack smiled at his own genius plan, and Danny nodded agreeing its quality.

Jack ran into the RV, and signaled for his family to climb inside. They all huddled inside, and when they started moving, Danny asked, "Where are we going? I thought you wanted to bury it?"

"Yeah, but we have to do it in it a very isolated place. Somewhere that no one would ever think to look."

Jack continued to drive the RV for half an hour, and Danny, having no idea where his father was headed, sat in the back with his seat buckled, and talked to Jazz.

"You were amazing out there. So fearless and sure of yourself. I wish I had that kind of confidence…" Danny voice trailed off.

Jazz, blushing by the complement, put one hand on Danny's bad shoulder. It hurt, but almost in a good way. "You _do_ have that confidence. Where do you think I learned it from?" Danny looked at his sister to see her gentle, caring smile that always reminded Danny of who he was.

"But how did you know I'd come around? What if I hadn't gotten there in time? Your confidence didn't even waver then," he asked.

"Because I know that you always have my back. You have their backs, too," she signaled with her head to the front of the RV where her parents sat. "And you may not know it, but we have your back. Always."

Danny smiled at his sister, touched by her words, then asked,

"Any ideas where we're going?"

"You've got me," she replied. And released Danny from her grip. She sat back against her seat with her palms folded over her chest.

Danny shrugged, and rolled over himself to relax a bit. Even though he had slept for 10 hours the previous night, he was tired – probably because he had only added a few sips of calming tea to give him energy, and all his energy was directed to his shoulder, which his body was in the process of healing. Still, it bothered Danny that they had no food on the RV. He knew that if they did it would've gone bad by now, but he was so hungry that he would've eaten the emergency ham.

"Dad," he asked when it became too much to bear. "Do you think we can stop for something to eat?"

"Just a second," his father replied. "We're almost there, now."

Danny sighed, and tried to curb his hunger by thinking of where they would be going. Maybe it would be a Nasty Burger out here in the middle of nowhere! Though even in his starving state, he knew it wasn't.

…

The car finally came to stop, and Jack put it in park.

"Everyone out!" he exclaimed, and as soon as Danny's foot stepped on to the ground, he realized they were on top of a mountain. The view was amazing, and Danny couldn't believe how far he could see out. He no longer felt his hunger, but it soon returned when his father tapped his shoulder, handed him a shovel, and said, "Come on, Son! Let's get digging!"

Danny rolled his eyes and smiled. He declined the shovel, and aimed one hand at the ground. He shot a blast of ectoplasm at it, and a hole formed. He held out his hand to receive the thermos, and froze it. He then placed it on the ground inside the hole, and smiled to himself in spite.

He replenished the hole of dirt, wiped his hands, and smiled at his father. "Who needs a shovel?"

Jack was surprised and proud at his son, and he hopped back onto the RV. "Come on, now. I'm starving! Hey, maybe I can drive!"

Jack smiled and laughed at his son while he helped his wife and daughter on the RV, but did not say he could drive, so Danny took his seat in the back, and placed his hands behind his head.

That's okay, he thought. He was way too tired to drive anyways.


	16. Epilogue: Back Home

Both Danny and Jazz smiled eagerly as the Fenton RV pulled up to their home. Danny peered out the window next to his seat, and was for once in his life greatly for the gaudy, chrome sign that read "Fenton Works."

Jack pulled the RV to a stop, and parked it in front of their red brick home. "Alright!" he exclaimed. "Everyone out."

"And help unpack!" Maddie added as her small pixie feet exited the RV. Danny and Jazz eventually came out, too, and they each held their suitcases as they moved them up the stairs and into the house.

Once Danny was back inside the house and finally managed to get away from his family, he rushed upstairs to his room. He quietly closed the door behind him, and cheered silently. _Yes!_ He shouted in his mind. _Solitude at last!_ He smiled into his long lost bed with his blue quilt and soft sheets. He never thought he would miss it this much, but a month away from home can definitely make a guy miss his bed.

He flipped onto his back, and laid, facing the ceiling. He crossed his hands over his stomach and let the sound of his own heartbeat soothe him. His parents were going to be okay. Jazz was going to be okay. _He_ was going to be okay.

He concentrated on his breathing, and eventually closed his eyes. He could feel his heart with his hands.

_Du-dub… du-dub… du-dub… du-knock, knock, knock!_

Danny almost fell out of bed by the surprise. "Danny?" a familiar voice called out to him.

_SAM! _He smiled, and rushed to let her in, closely followed by Tucker.

"Hey guys!" He was so excited to see his long lost friends.

He gave them each a heartfelt hug, and smiled. "How've you been? Anything interesting happened while I was gone?"

Before answering, Tucker and Sam looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Not really," Tucker said, plainly.

"Just the usual," Sam agreed.

"What happened with you?" Tucker asked. Danny smiled.

"It's a long story, and I can't wait to tell you, but right now I'm starving! Wanna hit up Nasty Burger?"

Tucker and Sam nodded, so they all left Danny's house to eat lunch.

…

Once they had all ordered the fattiest, nastiest burger on the menu – except for Sam, who stuck with a simple coke – it was time for Tucker and Sam's questionnaire for Danny.

"So what happened?" She spoke up first. Danny smiled. "Well, the first three weeks were pretty normal – if you exclude almost getting shot down from my parents a few times. Anyways, it was the last week that things really turned around. My mom made Jazz go camping with my dad, and I went with my mom.

"I'll save you the boring details, but the important part, is now my entire family knows my secret," he finished, smiling at the thought of no longer keeping secrets.

"Wait," Tucker interrupted. "_Which_ secret?"

"_The_ _secret_, secret, or a small, unimportant secret, secret?" Sam continued Tucker's question.

Danny smiled at looked both his friends in the eye. "My ghost-power secret," he explained, his face radiating with enthusiasm.

Tucker and Sam returned the genuine smile, and Sam asked one more question. "What about that lab-ghost guy? The one I told you I researched?"

"Believe me, I took care of him. Or at least we – my family – did. There isn't a ghost in Amity Park that can beat the Fenton Family Ghost Hunting Team!"

Tucker laughed. "Good thing, because we've got company," he chuckled and pointed behind Danny.

On cue, Danny's ghost sense escaped him, and he saw the ghost Tucker had seen. Even if he hadn't seen him, he would've heard him, with that obnoxious, crackling voice.

"I am the Box Ghost!"

Danny snickered, and escaped under the table to transform. It was nice that his parents knew his secret, but he wasn't quite ready for the rest of the world.

* * *

**Well I hope that everyone enjoyed this little FanFic! I certainly had a lot of fun with it. And don't forget to review!**

**On a different note, some of you all commented that a KP/DP FanFic sounded cool (and to clarify, Kim WILL NOT have ghost powers through out the entire story) and I'm happy to say that it is out now! Please go check it out! It's entitled _Blind Trust_ and written by me (The Element of Air).  
**

**Too-da-loo, and don't forget to check it out!**


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